The Too Many Hands Problem

too many hands in the picture, children's picture book, Clip Studio Paint EX

With this picture I realize I’m banging my head against the limit of my composition skills. My characters are static and I don’t know what to do with their hands. I’m going to do some research and then redraw this picture.

This is the kind of problem that makes me feel like I don’t know dick about drawing from imagination. I dive into a drawing thinking I know what I’m doing and end up concluding that I always start with a good reference. I’m impatient, and that impatience makes me a slow learner.

Alfresco Art Club, May 31, 2020: It's About Your Perspective

Today’s art club challenge was to do exercises to improve a problematic technique. This challenge is intended to get us out of our comfortable groove. I decided to sketch a walking figure using a bird’s eye perspective.

Lately I’ve had to confront my lack of perspective drawing skills as I try to draw a downward perspective of a character walking in front of his friends as he guides them into the jungle. So far I haven’t got it right.

Today I began confidently by drawing from imagination. My drawing looked awkward, so I and finished by drawing from a reference photo. I definitely should have started by drawing from reference.

Learning how to draw perspective

Learning how to draw perspective