A lot of the stuff involving getting the lines right is just practice practice practice. I used to sketch a lot, and that's mostly how I can do what I do now - that and I draw pretty much every day which keeps my hand and wrist muscles limber - if I stop for a week or two, I get quite stiff and it takes a few hours/days for muscle memory to kick in. Do you ever get something similar with running?
Sitting at the zoo with a pad and pencil (usually by the waterbirds exhibit) and just drawing. And learning to draw fast, because a lot of animals - unsurprisingly - don't give a damn about me drawing them! Heh. Firstly, it's a fun way to wile away a couple of hours, secondly - as you get better - it's a great way of meeting people, and thirdly - zoo!
I don't know if you've got any farms, wildlife parks, lakes with birds or zoos nearby, but if you can get down there with a sketchpad (cartridge paper is good), a 2B pencil, sharpener and malleable erasers, it's one of the fastest ways to both have a good time / improve animal drawing. :) I mean, even just drawing local dogs at the park will improve wild dog drawing skills, for example.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2010-12-22 09:03 am (UTC)Sitting at the zoo with a pad and pencil (usually by the waterbirds exhibit) and just drawing. And learning to draw fast, because a lot of animals - unsurprisingly - don't give a damn about me drawing them! Heh. Firstly, it's a fun way to wile away a couple of hours, secondly - as you get better - it's a great way of meeting people, and thirdly - zoo!
I don't know if you've got any farms, wildlife parks, lakes with birds or zoos nearby, but if you can get down there with a sketchpad (cartridge paper is good), a 2B pencil, sharpener and malleable erasers, it's one of the fastest ways to both have a good time / improve animal drawing. :) I mean, even just drawing local dogs at the park will improve wild dog drawing skills, for example.
er. I'm going to stop rambling now!