My project in Dynamic Character Illustration course

This course show's the approach used by Thomas Rohlfs in how to break down human postures and poses into easy to draw stages (line of action, rhythm, weight distribution, stick model then cylinders). Thomas emphasises his use of photo references and encourages us to do the same. The methodology is very easy and it allows complete beginners (or untrained artists like me) to tackle human anatomy without any prior experience.

Using photo references is not the same as tracing or copying photos. In fact, as evidenced by my practice sketches, when one does try to copy a photo very closely, it never seems to look quite right. Thomas's methodology allows us to capture the essence of the pose in the photo yet still gives freedom to adapt and modify it to make it our own.

During each stage of his drawing videos, there is a lot of trial and error, so you can see how it takes him a while to get to an end result that he is happy with. This kind of self-critique is something I need to be more conscious of. The end result for Thomas is that his characters are always full of life and energy and on a technical note, always perfectly proportioned yet still uniquely stylised. I wanted to emulate some of that magic into my work.

I have practised applying the human stick and cylinder method before in other Domestika courses but they were not as detailed as Thomas's course so this was a welcome deep dive into the concept. Thomas is very meticulous in his detailing and patience. He will re-draw the model many times over - patience is something I lack but by observing him I realise that this is the only way to get good results. Most of the videos in this course follow his drawing in real time so they can be quite long (average 15-20 minutes each).

Thomas also teaches his use of Photoshop actions and they sure look useful but I skipped these as I know I won't use them much. Actually I drew my final project in Affinity Photo so I don't even know if that program has Action functionality.

Ideally, I would have liked more information on depicting the characters from different angles, perspectives, foreshortening, extreme action poses etc. but Thomas explains these are not his strength and directs us to find other sources to learn these aspects. He did mention that he has a lot of tips on drawing faces, so maybe that alone would make for a follow-up course.

I also really enjoyed receiving feedback from Thomas in the forum. He has such a sharp eye and was able to pick out things I missed in my own work.

Overall I really enjoyed the course and it helped me build my confidence in drawing human characters and bringing more life into them