Six Ways To Start A Drawing

Copy and paste from http://www.skaarj.com/gimpystick/qseft/607

Looks like the tutorials on the Neondragonart focus primarily on the "geometric primitives" method of starting a picture. That's fine -- nothing wrong with that. I'd just like to mention that there are five other ways you can start a drawing (and you can also mix and match them to create new methods). "Gesture drawing" is a combination of structural and scattergun. Anyway, here's the methods:

Geometric Primitives

Start with cicles and squares or cubes and spheres. These tend to lead to simpler drawings because you have to simplify the shapes, but they translate well into 3D and can give a drawing depth, especially if you make good use of perspective.

Scattergun

Scattergun is crazyfun. You put the pencil down, and just draw. When drawing from observation, you're essentially moving your hand the same way your eye is moving over the object, and very quickly. The lines go all over the place and carry a lot of emotion. The downside is that it can make a mess. It's often great for a base to then switch to perimeter first.

Perimeter First

Just as it sounds. You start with the edges. This method is very linear, and often results in flatter drawings. Loomis claims that value is necessary to create a 3D illusion, but some argue otherwise.

Lights and Shadows

This method is primarily value-oriented, though you can use a shapes style if appropriate. You find the darkest darks and start by filling those in. If you're working with light on a dark surface, you'd do the opposite. This method can cause the figure/ground to blend together.

Structural

Using any of the main measuring methods (proportion, scale, and divide and conquer), focus on rebuilding the form based on existing measurements. Construction lines are king, and will be prevalent. This method is very accurate, but tends to lose life as your left brain kicks in, and since it's very hard to exaggerate when working within the lines.

Scanning

This method is handy when you never know if you have to get up and leave, and need a finished product. You start on something, work it up to the level of finish the drawing is going to have, then work outward from that point to the next bit. The biggest problem with this is that the scale of things can change as you're going along, or their relative positions can get off.

Keep in mind that all of these methods are starting points. You can switch from one to another at any time, or combine them to create something like "gesture drawing." People often combine structural and geometric primitives to create a sort of ball-and-sticks mannequin to start their pictures from.

What was I talking about?

I like your dragons. The brow is an important structure of the face, built into the skull, and you've got a nice brow on your dragons. Females tend to have less brow on humans, but you can do whatever you want on a dragon.

[!unfinished]