Would like some help...

[The Pwime]

Well, lately I'm going freaking art crazy, apparently.  I've been trying new styles, working on perspective a bit, and so on.  But I can't improve by myself any longer.  There are a few things that I definitely would like to delve into and practice.  Specifically, I want to learn some really good techniques for inking (over pencils, creating shine effects, etc).  Also, I'd like to get the anatomy a little better than i currently am.

So if anyone can help me out (links to inking tutorials, some good diagrams showing human anatomy) I would really appreciate it  ^_^

[zuludelta]

Your best bet for learning how to draw human figures accurately is to draw from life. You can start by copying photographs and then work your way up to live models (even if it's just you and a full-length mirror).

It also helps to have some real references handy. I've used books by Adrian Hill, Frank Netter and the famous Henry Gray's Anatomy for reference. In fact, all of the original Gray's Anatomy textbook is now available online for free, although for most artist reference purposes, you'll probably only be interested in Chapter 12 ("Surface Anatomy and Markings"). Even if you plan on doing more stylized (a.k.a. "cartoony") renditions down the line, having a solid base of sound anatomy will do wonders for your cartooning. I always like to point out guys like Todd McFarlane and Rob Liefeld as artists who never took the time to hone their human anatomy fundamentals and it definitely shows in their work (and in Liefeld's case, it looks like he learned to draw strictly from studying comic book art). Contrast that with guys like Keith Giffen or Kyle Baker, both of whom can draw in similarly outrageous styles but whose works don't suffer for all the stylization because all the relevant anatomical landmarks are still in proper relation with each other.

BTW, here's an online inking tutorial. Fairly limited, but it goes over the basics well enough. You might also want to look for Volume One of The Best of Draw! published by TwoMorrows Publishing. It has a pretty good inking demonstration by Ricardo Villagran and Klaus Janson (two of the best inkers the industry has seen in the last 3 decades).

[vamp]

I really cant help but I must agree with Zuludelta. I'm no great artist, though I do love to draw. But to me it's always good to know the some basic rules in art. After you know them then you can decide which rules to break and why.

That being said i also am looking for some resource for inking, so if i find one I'll let you know

[psychopanda]

It might be time to just take a break or make some changes in your environment. Anything to throw your brain into a different gear really helps. I like to walk around and take a look at different things while thinking "How would I draw that? What are the component parts?". I also like to mix up my music, take on random assignments, impart my own deadlines, anything to make me a little crazy.

As for inking, it's really a matter of practice. If you don't have them, get some ink pens of different sizes. I've been using Faber-Castell Pitt pens, but there are a bunch of brands out there like Micron, etc. A lot of artists these days, ink digitally but the best way to learn is starting with pens and brushes. Next try to find some black and white pages online of professional inkers, like Terry Austin, Klaus Janson, Tom Palmer, Joe Rubinstein, etc. Study the way they vary their line, if they feather something, the way they use blacks to denote shape and space, where they end their line. Even better, try to copy a picture they have done using their techniques. Trying to draw in someone else's style often helps me to learn different tricks.

ZD already gave some tips on anatomy, but you can find a number of videos online about how to draw as well. These can sometimes be more helpful, in that you can see exactly how they are doing things.

I watched this dvd recently, and the artist gives a number of good tips. If you can find it for rental or at your library, it's definitely worth a look: How To Draw Comics, From Script To Print

Hope that helps. If you really get down in the dumps, you can always collaborate on a random art challenge with me sometime. Trust me, after you see my pencils...you'll feel a whole lot better!  :P

Edit: forgot to add Bob McLeod's name to the inker list. He even has a site that I've been checking out: http://www.bobmcleod.com/

[Mr. Hamrick]

Chalk up another one agreeing with Zulu.

I'd start with some photographs, especially for faces and overall proportions of body parts.  Also consider what types of people you want to draw.  You will find people of different races have different facial features along with the obvious skin color, but you will also find that within each race there are different skin complexions and tones that can originate from an assortment of different factors.  Age will show differently also.  All of this can be observed in both photographs and by looking at people around you.  However, the photographs are a better starting point than staring at random people on the street.

[The Pwime]

Thanks guys.  ^_^

(man, I love this community)

[daglob]

Me, I'm and old f... ogey, and think a little differently. I would go for Burne Hogarth's books:

Dynamic Anatomy
Dynamic Light and Shade
Dynamic Figure Drawing
Drawing the Dynamic Head
Drawing Dynamic Hands
Dynamic Wrinkles and Drapery (Man! Is that a title, or what?)

Bearing in mind all the time that these books are for comic book/newspaper strip art (or really any fiction illustration), thus they go for more exaggerated poses than "real" anatomy books. Still, along with Gray's Anatomy, you won't be led too far astray. Whne the firswt of these books came out, "steals" began to show up in quite a few comic artist's work. There were a coujple of artists that worked For Warren that did almost nothing BUT steals from these books...

There is also Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist by Peck. I also have a Gupthill art book called Rendering in Pen and Ink that is excellent (just can't remember who wrote it). There was another art instruction book from the '20s or '30s that was reprinted in a comic books series maybe 10 years ago, but I can't remember the writer/artist. I was struck by how much it looked like one of the Hogarth books.

There are also Jack Hamm books, Christopher Hart books, Drawing Comics The Marvel Way, scads of Abrams and Gupthill art books, the entire Marvel Essentials and Showcase Presents series, the "in motion" photographs of Eadweard Muybridge, Comic Book Artist Magazine, all those beautiful Frank Frazetta books, anything drawn by Wally Wood, Al Williamson, Al McWilliams, Will Eisner, John Buscema, Nick Cardy, Curt Swan, Neal Adams (fill in lots of other '60s and quite a few '70s, '80s, and '90s artists)...

or Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko for stylized dynamic poses and "man on the street" stuff...

books by Frank Lloyd Wright, John Ferris, or Norman Bel Geddes, or any architect or designer, 'cause your characters have to have a world to live in...

same goes for books with scenery. Travel books are good...

books on furniture, becuase your figures have to have somewhere to sit...

books on "stuff", like radios and tvs, guns, cars, planes, boats, rockets, ray guns...

books by various photographers, like Steiglitz (sp?), because they have people and/or backgrounds that can be studied...

books on the "old guys", like Titan, daVinci, Rembrant, Michaelangelo, and some other guys with names like turtles...

Some of the art instruction books are "beginner" level, but I've found that you can get... well... lazy and forgetful in your drawing habits if you don't refresh every once in a while. And you also almost always discover something you missed in previous reading or study, or something just "clicks", and a whole new idea or technique becomes clear.

...and does anybody remember John Gnagy?

[daglob]

I should have also suggestedthat you haunt library book sales. I've found all sorts of stuff there (would you believe an art book by vincent Price?)