Admin Post: Drawing Challenge #31 - Shrimp Method

[goss]

Challenge #31 - Shrimp Method

Select an item that you have never drawn before, and attempt Xuu's 'Shrimp Method'.
Share your Before and After drawings.

What is the 'Shrimp Method'?
Xuu's original post detailing all the drawing steps can be found here: How to draw anything: A drawing exercise tutorial thing by Xuu

The basic steps involve:

1. Choose an object, plant or animal that you are unfamiliar with, or not accustomed to drawing.
   
2. Attempt to draw it straight from memory. Keep this.
   
3. Research and collect reference images of your item from different angles.
   
4. Trace your reference pics to better understand the structure of your item. Discard these.
   
5. Use selected reference pics to sketch your item from multiple views.
   
6. Attempt once more to draw your item straight from memory.
   
7. Place both memory drawings side by side for comparison.

A round-up post for submissions to this challenge will be done on Sunday 16th August, 2020.

Happy Drawing, everyone! :)

Comments

Choosing an item

[goss]

Hmm...I'm wondering what item I should select.

I'm not really good at drawing animals, so I think I'll try focusing on one of those instead of a still object. With animals, I tend to need an EXACT photo reference otherwise it turns out looking all weird, like a 3-year-old's attempts. LOL.

I'm into cdramas/The Untamed right now, so I'm thinking maybe one of these:
- Chinese dragon
- A bunny
- A husky puppy

Re: Choosing an item

[dhampyresa]

PUPPY

I mean, if it's a vote

Re: Choosing an item

[goss]

Hee. Noted. *g*

Re: Choosing an item

[mekare]

Otoh, dragons! Otoh, portrayals of dragons are going vary widely probably, so it might be difficult? I‘d love to see you chose dragons anyway.

Re: Choosing an item

[goss]

Yeah, being a mythical creature, the portrayals are often so varied, so the part with finding a common design from various angles might be a bit of a challenge. But it's one of those creatures that I'd really love to get a feel for drawing. :)

Hmm. Maybe if I could examine a 3D rendering of a Chinese dragon, that might help. Will look into it...

[mekare]

I checked out the link yesterday and it sounds really cool! I‘m also going to go with an animal probably because I don‘t draw them much. Probably a horse which might come in handy for my Big Bang project. Or some kind of sea creature because I love them (Jellyfish! Seahorses! Octopuses! Anemones!).

[goss]

Ooh, horses are a great choice!

My 4-legged animals usually all end up pretty much being like an oval with 4 sticks. LOL. Wrangling all those moving parts would be really interesting to explore and learn. :)

Or some kind of sea creature

Oooh! Those would be cool choices too. ^___^

[mekare]

I think I last drew a horse in 2011 for a Tolkien illustration.... ETA: I checked and it was 2014.

[goss]

Heh. I hear ya.

(I think the first and last time I drew a horse was 2012 Merlin Big Bang, and that was from using a screencap.)

It'll be interesting to see how these draw-from-memory artworks turn out. :)

[mekare]

I did the memory drawings yesterday, should we post them separately in the comm?

[goss]

Great to know you're already working on these! \o/

Did you do both before and after memory drawings? I think it'll be cool to see the comparison of both side by side. But you can definitely share WiP challenge pics here if you want. :)

[seleneheart]

I drew endless horses when I was small. I might pick another arthropod because those tend to be complicated.

[mekare]

I think I drew horses too as a kid, and yes they are complicated. Good luck with whatever animal you are choosing!

[minoanmiss]

Am tempted to draw a penis.
(Don't worry, I won't.)

[goss]

Ahaha. Go for it. XD

You know, I was just thinking that using this challenge to concentrate on one human feature, like a hand, foot, nose. etc. might actually be really useful.

[mekare]

Hehe.

[dhampyresa]

BIRD

Possibly a bluetit, they're cute. or maybe a starling? Seagull are also nice...

[mekare]

Oh yay, bluetits are lovely.

[goss]

Oh, birds! Good call. :D

[rusa]

This sounds really fun!

There are a lot of subjects I think would be fun for this! It's cause I'm quite impatient and don't sit down to 'observe' things properly, the things I draw can look very odd.

I'm thinking I will do something along the lines of:

- plants.. I want to draw good looking trees etc (would be useful for backgrounds in pictures!)
- a room (would be interesting cause I'm sure if I draw from memory that it'll look really simplistic with odd perspective!)
- animals! Maybe a cat cause I love 'em but I can only draw dot eye cats qq

(And in that order :B)

[goss]

All of these are great choices. :)

And yay for taking part in the challenge! \o/ I look forward to seeing the results.

[yue_ix]

I’ve tried this method to help me learn to draw crystals!

https://twitter.com/yuedraws/status/1288304472901521409?s=21

Not earth-shattering but definitively more detailed and accurate by the end! For a 2 x 1h exercise time, I’m pretty pleased!

[goss]

Oooh, that is cool! :D

I love that you chose something with such a specific texture. So it's almost like picking up two sets of skills - not only getting the shape right, but also capturing the look of that reflective, multi-faceted surface.