DrawSomething: Creating Advanced Drawings

I'm an artist, and I'm utterly addicted to DrawSomething. At times I will get really into certain drawings (see previous posts). I'll go crazy with shading, lighting, detail, the whole 9 yards (Where the fuck is that expression from? Those must have been some truly special 27 feet). People compliment me on my art a lot. I don't want to sound vain - I'm not bragging here - but it's true. My friends ask me, "How do you DO that?" Well, I don't know exactly, but I will try to break down the process for you. Drawing is a skill more than it is a talent; it's based on principles and techniques that can be learned. Let me share some wisdom. If you don't give a shit about improving your drawings, stop reading now.

If you want to try to produce a masterpiece of a DrawSomething sketch, you need to do more than draw crappy stick figures, words, and arrows. Push yourself to create a scene in which you you don't need arrows or words. Great drawings have all the context needed for the guesser to guess correctly. The true beauty of this game lies in the infinite ways one can go about creating their subject matter. I've told a lot of people this: this game isn't about drawing, it's about leading a horse to water. At first it sounds ridiculous, but let it marinate for a bit up there and you'll see that there is no right method of how to play this game. As long as the guesser guesses correctly, both players win.

I took a sequence of screenshots showing the progress of the drawing. The word is GANDALF. For those living under a rock, he's the wizard from Lord of the Rings. If you haven't seen the films, you won't have a clue as to what this drawing is. For those familiar with the films, this is the "You shall not pass!" scene. There are literally millions of ways to draw Gandalf. I chose this scene because I remember seeing a picture of it online and thought it'd be challenging. I did it from memory.

It's important to understand how to build your drawings if you want to go for something more complex and intricate. Secret #1: Complex pieces aren't so much drawings as they are layered combinations of colors and shades. Luckily for us, the game is not called LayeringCombinationsofColorsandShadesSomething. I digress. If your drawings frustrate you, and you think "they suck," they probably do. Here's some advice: stop thinking in terms of black outlines. Use more goddamn colors. Push yourself to improve. What else do you have to do-get back to that awesome Excel spreadsheet? Didn't think so. 

Here we go.

Before even TOUCHING the paintbrush (but after you've chosen a word, obviously), visualize how you want to present your word before you start. Look at a picture of it if you want. Mentally lay out the shapes and spacing of the objects you want to include. Once you have a vision for your soon-to-be masterpiece, you are ready to begin. Secret #2: Color from back to front. I cannot stress this enough. Look at something opaque in the room you're in. Can you see what's behind it? Didn't think so. This is why it's so critical to draw the background first.

                  

                                     The fuck is that?

Start by coloring in the background, using thick brush strokes to get the big shapes down. No need to get too detailed here-this is just to get the general framework of your drawing down. Think of this as your drawing's blueprint.

As you add more, you should see the drawing start to take shape. Are the shapes you've drawn so far in tune with the vision you have for your drawing? If not, fix them before moving on. Secret #3: When drawing 3D objects, use different shades of the same color to highlight the different faces of whatever you're drawing. Look at the top, sides, and bottom of the bridge. They're all different shades of brown, creating a 3D look. Keep shading surfaces using black or darker colors and start to add details that won't later be covered up by objects in the foreground. 

Continue adding detail, and begin correcting the areas that look too raw. But why don't we see our beloved Gandalf yet? Because he will be standing on the bridge, in the foreground, and we have to make sure that whatever is behind him is finished before we draw our beloved wizard. That was not an Ian McKellen gay joke.

Now it starts getting exciting. Like most things, good planning leads to better outcomes. Drawings look better when they are laid out properly (working from back to front) because this adds depth. Drawing too many objects on top of one another with no sense of space is a great way of making your drawing look as if it was done by a Special-Ed second grader with various types of soupy food. After laying the foundation of your drawing with background colors and shapes, you can start to go to town on the details. 

I get the sense that "fire whip" will not be an addition to the DrawSomething word bank anytime soon.

More details. A demon foot. More fire from the fire whip. There are probably people scratching their heads going, "Yeah, correct me if I'm wrong, but that's definitely NOT a Gandalf." Don't worry, he's coming in the next picture. Secret #4: Be patient-don't stress out that you haven't drawn your actual word yet. It'll pay off when your drawing is looking like it belongs on the ceiling in a chapel in Rome. More often than not, the best, most detailed, and most complex drawings have a tendency for the focal point to be drawn last.

THERE HE IS! Finally! You've come this far, don't fuck up now. Secret #5: Don't fuck up now. The last thing you need is a huge white streak bisecting your awesome drawing of Darth Vader. Seriously, pay attention-you'll be running low on ink by now. Finish strong! No time for stick figures when you just spent the last 45 minutes drawing a fucking Balrog. Again, start with colored shapes, then add detail. Outlines of the same color are okay, just fill them in carefully. 

Add more detail on the new shape. Since that huge black dild, err-demon thing is on fire, Gandalf's back will be dark (simple concept of light and shadows, people). That was also not a gay joke. Secret #6: If there is a light source, shade everything NOT facing the light source darker. If there is no light source, choose yourself (you can do it!) where it's coming from and do the same thing. In Gandalf's case, we add dark gray and black to his backside. Fucking rocket science. 

Because "Gandalf the Grey courageously fighting a Balrog on a tiny bridge above a treacherous chasm" damn well doesn't fit in 8 letters.

To finish things up, I shaded Gandalf's back in black, and drew a shadow on the ground to give him a three dimensional look. I also added more black to the area below the bridge (where I put words) and around the whip. For purposes other than illustrating a really deep abyss, black is a great means of making your drawings really pop, thanks to the contrast and shadows it provides (It's boring to see a stick figure against a white background). 

I hope this has been helpful for you. Try, try, try. If you fail, you still tried, and you're probably a bit better than you were before. Copy a picture you see-especially with characters (Hercules, Aladdin, Arnold, etc). Spend those fucking coins on color packs. 

More to come. 

-bb