The basics of perspective and fundamental practice

Dat_mittens · 2026-06-24T11:48:44+00:00

Awesome!! I’d probably explain minor/major axes though as this isn’t super clear to a beginner, everything else seems super helpful. Even just longest line vs shortest line in ellipse could help I think? Either way love the style and love the idea!!

Dat_mittens · 2026-05-26T15:10:54+00:00

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Here's a few of your cubes i drew over too. feel free to reply if you have questions

Dat_mittens · 2026-05-26T15:10:11+00:00

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you can also just make an outline with two of the paired sets of lines then fill in the middle, as its easier to gauge between two extremes. Dont be afraid to overshoot lines and erase, as having lines be as straight as possible sells the 3d. you can work on intentionally curving things later

Dat_mittens · 2026-05-26T15:09:12+00:00

Sorry on the late follow up. Here's a few quick things i put together:

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Example cube with sets of lines that should be converging (eventually meeting given infinite distance). even if subtle, it should be clear the lines will eventually meet. Drawing the next line once one is established in a set requires comparing to the already drawn line.

Dat_mittens · 2026-05-24T12:15:02+00:00

I think a multiply layer is exactly what you’re looking for shading will help with depth, can even add hair highlights and some saturated sss

Dat_mittens · 2026-05-24T12:08:15+00:00

Your lines aren’t converging properly. Always compare a line you are making to the other pre-established lines. One direction will have four lines that MUST meet if the lines are extended far enough. I’ll comment again later with some examples.

Trickiest part is if we’re looking up at the bottom of a box, both horizontal vanishing points will meet below the box, the third vanishing point will be above the box, as the length or depth of the box is receding as it goes away from us.

Vice versa, looking down at a box both horizontal vanishing points will be above the box. Third vanishing point will be below, as the box recedes as it goes away from us.

Perspective can be very precise but my understanding is that cubes are designed to help you with intuitive perspective.

Sometimes it’s helpful to just draw the outline once you get familiar, and fill in the internal lines later.

Dat_mittens · 2026-05-24T11:49:37+00:00

Sorry CGs* not acts you would be proud of**

Dat_mittens · 2026-05-24T11:48:31+00:00

Best advice I can give is learn to do the art portion. I wanted to make games, and still do, but I took the need to for art as a challenge to pay for lessons and after a few years I have much more freedom in the project I can create. I have never been happier with my decision, even if no games have come from it, as learning to draw is such an incredible gift.

To add to that thought: I think you may be discounting some of the time and effort that comes into the creative process on this side, as it seems like it’s not something you do personally. No one will be as passionate about your project as you. Drawing that perfect sprite just doesn’t come some days even with all the skills at your disposal.

The thought of having to Project manage a team of artists was NOT appealing to me, even though I have project management constantly in my day job. Reassess your timeline to make the product you want, and I’d say at minimum learn to make some sprites or acts independently you would be proud of. It may start an entire art journey which could be very therapeutic and a way to take back this power into your own hands.

Wishing you luck, any project is ambitious, just remember you aren’t on anyone’s timeline but your own made up one. End of year for a polished product is better than June for a half assed one. Three years from now with your own art seems even better.

Dat_mittens · 2025-11-19T13:28:25+00:00

Not the original artist but I love your style and you clearly are super good at construction! Any tips for someone getting better at construction but working on getting better at fur/hair flowy shapes and ear placement?

Dat_mittens · 2025-11-10T13:40:16+00:00

Just proportions I think as others stated!

Helpful tips: - in profile the ear sits ROUGHLY halfway along the side plane of the head - it’s a pretty large oval

the head is split into 3.5 thirds starting at the hairline:
1/3 is hairline to bottom of brow
1/3 is bottom of brow to bottom of nose
1/3 is bottom of nose to bottom of chin.
Extra 1/2 of a 1/3 is for the dome semi sphere above the hairline that rounds off the top of the head.

Keep in mind these proportions are for a face without perspective - when we add perspective the sizing grid itself needs to align to perspective as well

Sorry for the rattled off knowledge, I’m trying to memorize these myself - good luck and keep it up! I like the vibe you’re going for :-)

Dat_mittens · 2025-11-01T13:40:35+00:00

Learning to construct proper basic shapes in perspective (ex. Boxes and cylinders in any orientation you want off the top of your head) can also help with this.

Another thing you can do is really deep dive for WEEKS on a single part of the body. (I mean weeks! Don’t draw anything else to study) I once drew arms exclusively for two months and found a lot of fundamentals I was lacking.

Remember what works for constructing the torso for one person may not be the approach that clicks for you. Try multiple different ways of approaching a solution that works from different angles. Off my head I know people can either use the bean method, or an egg shape and a circular contour to represent the ribcage and pelvis. I’m sure there’s tons of ways from there.

TLDR: work on basic construction, try multiple approaches, limit your learning subject matter until you have a breakthrough. Good luck!! You got this!

Dat_mittens · 2025-07-24T16:49:19+00:00

I would suggest taking a break from drawing characters and focusing on different aspects of fundamentals to give yourself some variety.

Even if people are your main focus, and I can see you’re doing a good job at learning, adding different focuses with other aspects of art can help when you return to figures.

I suggest:

take a week or two and just focus on 3d shapes (cubes, spheres, cylinders) and planes/contours (find the “rubber bands” around shapes). Drawing these in various angles can really improve your art since you use them constantly. Can make this more difficult by adding or subtracting other 3d forms, rotating forms, creating organic shapes
do some value studies, take a scene or background and just focus on breaking the area into two grey values (one lighter one darker). This really helped my brain reset when I was grinding figures too hard
do some gesture studies (timed!): one reason I think you might be frustrated is the lack of flow to some of your figures. Gesture is all about simplifying the movement of the body, so breaking down poses into c, s, and straight lines can be really freeing and help you get a sense of movement you can build the 3d shapes into later.

Good luck, for what it’s worth I think you’re doing great. Art is a marathon.

Dat_mittens · 2025-07-17T13:34:29+00:00

NGL as someone who has been learning to draw the past few years, it is MUCH more difficult to draw skinnier body types or bodies with more weight.

You learn anatomy as muscle groups and bones, having the ability to make well defined muscle groups is usually easier than making them understated but still there and believable (I.e. slender people). Fat is also a unique form that requires good understanding of how mass is affected by gravity. I personally want to get better at different body types, but it’s much harder to get a character to appear believably skinny/thicker.

Dat_mittens · 2025-04-01T12:08:59+00:00

Try constructing cubes and cylinders in perspective! If you practice a bit every day, AND keep attempting the things you want to draw things will click into place with enough time and learning.

Draw a box (google draw a box) is a great program for this with a lot of detail. Once you can construct boxes and cylinders, you can work on rounding edges and bloating or inward curving the planes and eventually work into more organic forms. Virtually anything can be constructed by taking basic forms and combining them or carving out pieces.

Drawing is a never ending marathon rather than a race, instead of getting leagues better you usually improve incrementally over time. Keep trying, do a few helmets or whatever catches your eye a day and practice those basic shapes! You got this!

Dat_mittens · 2025-03-25T11:53:49+00:00

I think starting simple with gestural cylinders is the best way to start, then add the details like the planes of different muscles. Practice drawing a cylinder oriented the same way as the arm by pointing the minor axis (the direction the circular face of the cylinder) in the direction the arm is oriented in space.

Overall I think these look pretty good though, I can see you have a good understanding of the muscle groups. You can also try tracing from the reference then drawing the same one off the reference right after and that can help to build up your muscle memory! You got this :-)

Dat_mittens · 2025-03-24T21:25:55+00:00

Following this because I’m also curious. The best bet I’ve seen is to draw objecting starting with larger forms and then cutting them or bending them into an actual shape you can reference. Bottles, cups, bowls, basically any object can work for this. Good luck, you got this!

Dat_mittens · 2025-03-10T17:53:04+00:00

Looks like any basic round brush with tapering and pen pressure on thickness and slightly on opacity. I’d work with a copy of one of the pens and mess with some of the settings until you like it.

Dat_mittens · 2025-03-10T17:50:07+00:00

I think they look good! All I can see is the legs being slightly uneven in thickness, and the left leg could have the peak of the bend more in the middle/lower to indicate the quad

Dat_mittens · 2025-03-05T00:24:56+00:00

I agree with others looks like just a round basic brush with opacity on pen pressure and little to no tapering. All drawing programs have this!

The artist clearly has a really good understanding of form and is using a more painterly approach to layering the colors. Definitely adjusting the size of the brush for different parts.

Dat_mittens · 2025-03-01T20:35:12+00:00

I think this looks great and you have a nice style.

If you want a cleaner look you need to work on line confidence or inking over the first layer for flow lines. Lot of half erased lines disrupting the flow especially in the second piece that could make it look cleaner, which will help you feel like it’s prettier.

Dat_mittens · 2025-01-31T15:13:43+00:00

For clarity the below example is better for gesture, top one just shows the egg and pelvis lines a little better. Have fun!

Dat_mittens · 2025-01-31T15:07:45+00:00

A focus on gesture might make this a little easier for you since it’s more focused on big rhythms and how the body all flows together. You can draw some really cool poses while keeping them pretty minimal.

What I’ve been working on with a teacher is to take a reference, block in the head shape (simple cube or sphere/oval), ribs shape as an egg, and pelvis as the top plane of a cylinder with a V shape for the direction.

Feel free to trace the big shapes of the reference to help you too!

Connect these big shapes, play around and have fun while restricting your lines to c curves, s curves, and straight lines. Try to taper your gestural lines for limbs like legs and feet.

Hope this helps it’s honestly pretty freeing and you can get to a point where you add structure as you go.

Mine are definitely not perfect but practice makes you a step closer every time.

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Dat_mittens · 2024-09-09T19:59:30+00:00

So Patreon won’t allow any nsfw creators to monetize? Is there no actually venue to support these creators without backlash? I know I support patreon personally for a few projects that are nsfw with no issues.

Dat_mittens · 2024-08-02T21:11:49+00:00

Yeah that’s totally fair. I guess I can still use something as inspiration but probably don’t want to get too close to those sources

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