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Nsio β Nsio explains: Dynamism
Published: 2013-10-19 16:06:20 +0000 UTC; Views: 494440; Favourites: 15993; Downloads: 11186
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Fourth part (if excluding facial proportions) in my tutorial series. Probably my favorite thing about drawing.Dynamism
Dynamism is what makes the drawings so lively. Even a drawing without any real action should be dynamic. Dynamism makes your drawings look more natural and interesting to look at. It can also make up for many mistakes and even make them look intentional and part of the drawing.
Line of action is the manifestation of dynamism. It's a sort of invisible line that (I believe) everyone can see subconsciously. I find that there are two types of line of actions: primary and secondary line of actions.
The primary line of action, like the name suggests, is the most important thing in your character. It gives the backbone to the whole pose. That's why it's really important that it's found very early in your sketches. Without this line, your poses will end up plain, boring and unjustified. The secondary line of action is more like a compositional guideline. It helps to justify the positioning of the sub-elements of the drawing, such as clothing, accessories, hair, limbs and shapes.
Regardless the role of the action line, it's main purpose is to add feel of flow in your drawings. This flow is then perceived as dynamic drawing. A good line of action is long, strong and as continuous as possible. These are prerequisites for illustrating dynamic action.
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Comments: 339
I never know posing needed these line to make it engaged bless your kind heart for making this~
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AAAHHHH
thank you so much I was in an art block cause I thought my art was sucky and now I know why and how to fix it
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God...
now I know why my art is so boring...
This helped so much! (Even if I have no idea how to use it)Β
Thank you for making this for all of us!
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For the image with the ninja, how do yu get the head to look like that. I keep tryng but the head either looks small or ridculous, please help :<
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You likely have several issues you need to pay attention. They are 1)anatomical knowledge, 2)proportions and scales, 3)foreshortening and 4)applying these three.
The thing you are probably doing wrong is that you might be drawing the jaw too foreshortened. That said, you have a basic sphere for the head and the jaw is just too much "behind" the sphere. From proportional point of view, you may not be able to position all the anatomical details in such way that the visual cues would indicate foreshortened head. And if you just don't know how the head looks like, you don't even know how the proportions, scales and foreshortening works with head.Β
First of all, you need to know how the head looks, especially the cheeks and jaw. You can simply guess this, you need to study them thoroughly. Then you need to know what kind of proportions and scales the head has (in other words, how all the anatomical features are positioned in relation to each other). Then you need to know how foreshortening works. Finally, you need to know how the head is foreshortened so that it still looks like head, with all the anatomical details proportionally aligned in place according to the chosen viewing angle.
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Hmm, a slight different from the "straights against curves" I found.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_r3cPβ¦
Any thoughts?
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A great finding
The simpler the drawing, the more prominent the line of action is. In fact, the bears in the video were so simple that even the shapes were affected, not just the pose. The same principles apply on more realistic and detailed drawings as well, but the signs are often more subtle in them.
Having straight to counter-balance the curves is a great way add impact in areas that really need that. If straights aren't used, then the balance needs to be done with curves that work in harmony. But as the guy said, the straight line is more like "straighter than a curve, so basically less curvy line is perceived straight when compared to strong arcing line.
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Thank you, youre tutorials are really great!
Would dynamism work for a calm scene, say, characters resting?
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thank you master!! this really helps me a lot!
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thanks man, i like your tutorials
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This is the main thing that Im struggling with now. My poses are so boring and I can't ever figure out how to make them more dynamic! This helped quite a bit!
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LOL this is what I need to learn. My drawings are so stiff ^_^
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Bad ass explanation! You're so wonderful for sharing all this knowledge Β \(^.^)/
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Β This is so helpful!! Thank you so much! Like so many people, I kinda just draw and go from there, but I will definitely think more about this idea when I draw in the future!Β Β ~arigatou~!
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Very helpful! I've never thought of this...maybe that's why my drawings looks so dull...
Do I see Cirno and Patchoulli? xD
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No wonder my drawings look so boring , Thank you !
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Thank you so much for this! I've been looking for a good explanation about this subject!
I must admit though, the part about "feeling the flow" reminds me of General Iroh from Avatar The Last Airbender.
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Avatar reference. Yessss!!!!Β Β
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Yes, someone who understands it!Β
/o7o/
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This is really good! Thank you!
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After reading this tutorial again, I think I'm starting to get the concept of dynamism : o Thanks for making it!
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Oh man, I need this. My people look even more static than the first example. I think I need to get a better grasp on anatomy, first, though. Really nice tutorial, thanks!
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Just epic. Thanks for your tuturials, there're wonderful.
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oh, that gonna help me a lot! thanks for the lesson, sensei 
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Really, this is totally going to be useful! Thank you very much!! ^^
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Much love friend, excellent explanations.Β
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this is sooo helpful thank you for making this
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I absolutely love this! Thank you so very much for the tutorial~ ^-^
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I can't perceive lines of action at all! D:
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I dont get it. This is the first ive heard of it but still, I dont get it.
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If it's your first time and you don't get it, it's not a surprise. Although I had started using the line of action very early, I realized its function many years later. It was all the practices, studies and analyses that made it clear to me.
Line of action is such conceptual level stuff that it's not easy to understand. There is no such thing as line of action in reality, yet it's the force that makes the drawings look dynamic and lively. You could say that the line of action is a simplified idea of the pose (or what ever it's representing). If the pose is stiff, it's simplified idea has too straight, short, wobbly or random line of action. If the pose is dynamic, it's simplified idea has impacting, forceful, flowing, long and continuous line of action. The sub-elements of the pose (head, neck, torso, arms, legs, hair, fingers, toes etc etc.) also have their own line of actions, which should work in harmony with the main idea. That said, if you want to draw a running pose for instance, you need to draw it so that the full body is engaged to the action, not only the legs that move the body.
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no offense to your tutorial but could you link me to any others?...
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