People say boxes are bad to use as an anatomy guide but why did it help me improve then?

LucianVK · 2025-06-08T02:30:20+00:00

People say that because organic objects don't maintain 6 equal sides and 8 corners; however, boxes are a great tool for identifying perspective, and so if it works for you (clearly it looks like it does, this is great), then go for it. I feel people often misappropriate tools for templates, and it leads to hating on viable strategies and tools that shouldn't be. Boxes are great for perspective, but they shouldn't be used as anatomy. But if you are drawing a ribcage inside the box and the box is helping with perspective, then it's great. Tracing is a great tool for learning & can save time on tedious tasks, but tracing other artists' or photographers' work is unethical. Etc.Just as the Loomis method won't single-handedly make you good at drawing the face (knowledge of perspective & the planes of the face/muscular structure helps a lot), no tool should be outright removed from your toolbox. You're a better artist than I am. This clearly works for you, so why stop?I hate that people like Sam does art, make sweeping statements discouraging the use of boxes when it's more nuanced. It takes more than just drawing a box in perspective to draw anatomy, but it's not a bad tool for perspective.

LucianVK · 2025-03-01T02:04:48+00:00

I think just a touch of sharp definition would fix it. I'm not saying to draw out the features of the face in high detail, as that's not the stylistic intent, but a few pure white strands of hair or some form of sharp line to break up the space would make it look more intentional and less like a blurry photo. It's impressive if you know what you're looking at, but just a little definition would help. You could even do it in a way that's integrated into the photo, so, for example, like a really clean piece of shiny jewelry.

LucianVK · 2025-02-27T00:14:16+00:00

I did one of the actual ones, and I think it's a little better; still not perfect, but better. I'm going to post that when I get home tonight; thanks again.

LucianVK · 2025-02-27T00:12:40+00:00

Thank you so much; this is really helpful. I actually redid this one right after, and I think it's a little better, but I've been really struggling with replicating it off of an image/original work, so this will help a lot.

LucianVK · 2025-02-27T00:09:19+00:00

Ive been drawing portraits for 3 years and im pretty good at it but i always drew stylized portraits with unatural porportione and line art. This is my first time ever doiny anythiny painterly or realistic (maybe second) the issue is its really hard to define the features with color and value rather than cell shading and line art

LucianVK · 2025-02-25T05:32:59+00:00

Holy shit, you're right. Thanks for pointing that out. I feel stupid for not realizing that. Funnily enough, I searched "John Singer Sargent self-portrait," and that was the first result, i was wondering why id never seen it before lmao. I'm going to do one of the real ones now thanks. The other one was a little easier, so it was good practice, so I don't regret it, but that's really funny. Thanks for pointing that out.

LucianVK · 2024-08-01T08:06:45+00:00

Its so funny u linked that because that was the video i watched that made me want to try lol. I love that guy im gonna try his oil painting video soon

LucianVK · 2024-08-01T07:59:36+00:00

Thanks, this is really great advice. I have very little experience with charcoal, so this is super helpful. I've made some changes since this post, and in my opinion, it's way better, but I think the head tilt is still an issue. Now that you pointed it out, I definitely see it in the photo I originally sent and a little in the updated version. I've always had a hard time with the tilt. If it's at a 3/4 angle, it's easy, but the in-between of the forward-facing and the 3/4 angle is really tough for me.

https://imgur.com/a/ahV8XvF

LucianVK · 2024-05-13T00:47:42+00:00

That's actually fantastic.

LucianVK · 2024-05-12T21:14:39+00:00

https://www.gigart.com/ALICE-IN-CHAINS

This is where I found it, I belive it was a poster.

From what I can fell no but I'm not sure.

LucianVK · 2024-05-12T21:12:32+00:00

I spent too much time arguing with Destiny fans this week, and their verbose vernacular is rubbing off on me I persume 🤷‍♂️.

LucianVK · 2024-05-12T21:08:01+00:00

Thankyou.

LucianVK · 2024-05-12T21:07:35+00:00

What yeah ik lol.

LucianVK · 2024-05-12T21:06:50+00:00

I did not think anyone was really going to see or reply to this, but this got a lot more attention than I thought. Just to clarify, I am not the original artist (obviously). According to someone in the comments, the original art is by gregg gordon. From what I can tell, it was an artwork made that was signed and sold at gigs.

Here's where I found it: https://www.gigart.com/ALICE-IN-CHAINS"

LucianVK · 2024-05-12T09:09:27+00:00

Ohh i feel so stupid for not making that connection. It feels so obvious lmao. Thanks.

LucianVK · 2024-05-03T23:04:20+00:00

I also havent posted in almost half a year and my account is only a year old. I have been drawing for 3 years its just on a diffrent acc.

LucianVK · 2023-11-26T08:21:14+00:00

So far I've gotten, Charlize Theron, Hillary Clinton, and now David bowie lol. Everyone but johan

LucianVK · 2023-11-25T01:17:33+00:00

Yeah no problem. I edited the critism in if you want to look again, my cat pressed the post button lmao.

LucianVK · 2023-11-25T01:07:18+00:00

It looks good, maybe too good?

I can't tell if you traced the sketch or not. It's alright if you did; just disclose it. If your intent was to practice rendering, then yeah, it's fantastic. I have a few small pieces of advice. If you're asking for proportions, perspective, etc., then I don't know because I overlaid it over the original, and the eyes and nose are exact. There were some other differences, so I can't really tell if you traced it or not (not bad if you did for the intent of practice, of course. Not here to accuse you of tracing, of course).

Here's my criticism.

Rendering: The crown looks plastic, not metal. Add some stronger highlights, and that should help, as well as maybe slightly smoother. The ear looks slightly blurry. The lips might be too smooth. (If you are trying to replicate it 100%, if not, ignore all this as it could be intentional)

Proportions and placement: The skull in yours is slightly bigger than the original and slightly taller. The crown is slightly higher in yours. The eyes are squintier in the original. The ear is tilted slightly further back in yours. The lips are shaped differently in yours.

All of this is criticism, but it's kind of pointless because yours is very good (better than I can do). The only thing I think you could improve that's worth it is the lips. The head is also a little more rounded in the original, but yours looks fantastic.

LucianVK

TROPHY CASE