The Beauty of Simplification for Drawing
Introduction
The most memorable video games often tend to not focus on realistic graphics, but focus on stylized art. Given the current medium it does not try to mimic real life, it is merely used life as an inspiration It is then simplified and transformed into something real life never could achieve. In line work there are three important tools to consider when performing this simplification that are shown in the image below. These lines can be used in the same way to simplify what we experience in real life and express it in a way that is unique to us. For this blog post I wanted to demonstrate how c-curves, s-curves, and straights are used to create beautiful illustrations through the study of different sketches to remove the distractions that color would bring.
The Three Types of Lines
When creating the initial sketch, especially from life, it is important to restrict you strokes to the curves shown in the image above. From this simplification you are more likely to develop the essence of the focal point that can stand apart from its real life counter part. We can see this simplification be demonstrated with the image below where I color coded the different types of lines that were used. For straights I used green, for the C-Curve re was used, and for the S-Curve there is blue. Starting from the left side for the parts that involved the flesh of the woman I have leaned more heavily on using the S and C curves, while sparingly using straights. For the cloths you will notice that I have a more liberal use of straight lines that help it the clothing contrast from the female and create something lifelike. For the middle I relied mostly on S-Curves and C-Curves for with straights being reserved for the arms, while the last image has a more democratized use of all three lines.
It is important to keep in mind these decisions where made at the subconscious level as I was processing what I was observing and transcribing to paper at the time. A much more simple example can be observed below with the image below showing a flag. For the flag being twirled, two straights are used to make the stick, while a c-curve is used for the top outline of the flag, while an s-curve is used for the bottom outline that gives the flag life.
With this sketch the structure of the arm follows a C-Curve, with the cloth conforming to the arm. Straights are used to define the folds of the cloth, while the S-Curves take prominence in defining the character of the cloth around the arm. There are S-Curves and C-Curves present but they do not hold as much importance as the contrasting S-Curve.
Here are more examples involving birds as a nice change of pace.
Here is a more rushed sketch as I was trying to create the essence of what I was observing at the time this was sketched.
One final example includes me leaning more heavily on straights to define the outline of the robe on the left, while utilizing c curves to create the folds. While on the right as I was quickly sketching this away I relied on straights to rough out most of the image below the left. Examples of this include the outer left perimeter of the shape being a series of straights put together to form a C-Curve. While for more delicate areas such as the neck, I took more time to make a nice C-Curve.
Conclusion
When drawing something that you want to be memorable you should think in terms of how to apply S-Curves, C-Curves, and straights. This simplification allows for the construction of good shape design that is easier for the brain to process and more likely to be remembered.