Symmetrical Body Parts

[Satur1n]

Am I the only artist here that usually draws characters with one eye or one side of their body / limbs, then flips it in a graphics program to make the other?
For some reason, I just can't draw eyes or limbs symmetrically.

 

[DarthGrinn]

Shouldn't you not? I mean, I've only dabbled in art (3D Modeling) and I recall that the less symmetrical you make a character, the more believable they look. Because, naturally, we aren't symmetrical either. Maybe that concept doesn't apply to 2D sketches n such? I dunno...

 

[Satur1n]

Shouldn't you not? I mean, I've only dabbled in art (3D Modeling) and I recall that the less symmetrical you make a character, the more believable they look. Because, naturally, we aren't symmetrical either. Maybe that concept doesn't apply to 2D sketches n such? I dunno...

I have pretty bad OCD for things like symmetry and straight lines. Guess I kinda thought it was more important than that; lol

 

[Kocho-kun]

Am I the only artist here that usually draws characters with one eye or one side of their body / limbs, then flips it in a graphics program to make the other?
For some reason, I just can't draw eyes or limbs symmetrically.

XD i'm pretty sure i've done that one time or another

 

[DuBobO1]

As I understand it, some artists use copy-pasting certain graphical elements to create a specific effect, but not to that extent.

If you think about it, your body is never really in a symmetrical position unless it's held in place and you're perfectly aligned at 0 degrees. To get a more natural look, try thinking of the angle that the picture is being drawn at with regards to the action going on and keep in mind what's closer to the "camera".

 

[AnimeWatcher1]

You can do this if your characters are always facing full-frontal or looking straight at the viewer. Of course, that kindof makes you look like a one trick pony and your drawings stale. You've got to mix it up a little if you do that.

However I will say this: For us 3D artists, we are ok with doing only half a body and copy-pasting it. Characters are modeled using the T-pose (arms stretched out, back straight, legs straight together), and truthfully we only NEED half the body to begin with when modeling in our programs. This is excellent for us, but for traditional artists, you're not going to be able to do this and put your characters into good poses (due to lack of foreshortening and perspective).

It's ok to do sometimes on things like eyes and...um... hm... don't know much else really. Maybe clothing bases or accessories that are on both sides of the body. Really though, even slight asymmetry is better.

 

[Satur1n]

You can do this if your characters are always facing full-frontal or looking straight at the viewer. Of course, that kindof makes you look like a one trick pony and your drawings stale. You've got to mix it up a little if you do that.

However I will say this: For us 3D artists, we are ok with doing only half a body and copy-pasting it. Characters are modeled using the T-pose (arms stretched out, back straight, legs straight together), and truthfully we only NEED half the body to begin with when modeling in our programs. This is excellent for us, but for traditional artists, you're not going to be able to do this and put your characters into good poses (due to lack of foreshortening and perspective).

It's ok to do sometimes on things like eyes and...um... hm... don't know much else really. Maybe clothing bases or accessories that are on both sides of the body. Really though, even slight asymmetry is better.

Yeah, it definitely seems 3D artists would use it more.

 

[Violetta]

It's not something I've ever really done because, as Grinn pointed out, humans are not perfectly symmetrical. Add to that the fact that I almost never draw someone in a symmetrical pose, and there's pretty much no opportunity to. Besides, it's much better exercise to draw both sides out. It makes for twice the practice in drawing body parts and it gives you extra training in "drawing what you see" when you copy by hand what you've already drawn... just mirrored.

 

[yanneilucia]

Satur1n, have you done that with the images so far?

 

[Satur1n]

Satur1n, have you done that with the images so far?

Constantly. I draw one eye on a character, then mirror it and shrink it a little.

 

[Sablesword]

For eyes, I do that all the time - but then I tweak the shape of the flipped copy to deal with perspective, foreshortening, and the lack of 100% symmetry in "realistic" figures. (I use coreldraw, and my drawings are 100% vector, which makes the shapes much more tweakable than bitmap objects.)

Other body parts, I generally don't.

 

[Kocho-kun]

Yes, i completely agree as far as the eye's go...if there's one thing (heh, two actually) that is symmetrical it's gotta be the eye's (usually anyways).

but it's still a good skill to develop, to be able to draw them both free hand.

 

[yanneilucia]

Constantly. I draw one eye on a character, then mirror it and shrink it a little.

Then you can keep it that way, because you do it justice and it looks good.