So how exactly do I stop "symbol drawing" and draw

start by copying exactly what you see in a reference without thinking "hey this is an eye, hey this is a lip,etc".
But the thing is that you won't be able copy it correctly because you're shit.

watching a master or someone whose work you admire is helpful

>>3078097
Maybe I'm a little slow because I don't get the point of this teaching. We all know an eye is more complex than two circles, so why is symbol drawing even mentioned? So does that mean simply just start learning construction or take your sweet ass time when drawing a reference to draw it as close as possible with your current skill to understand that drawing takes patience and devotion?

>>3078105
I don't know maybe it's to motivate you since drawing a fuckton of lines as practice is not fun at all.
It probably has to do with absorbing the characteristics in your reference such a contour, contrast, values, light, patterns that create a shadow, etc.
But why don't you start from construction then?
Oh also watch your drawing in a mirror to spot the mistakes that your brain obviates.

the biggest things that helped me really understand form were planar analysis exercises, but I remember the first time I drew a good portrait was when I was drawing light and shadow. So like, instead of drawing an eye and thinking about drawing an eye, I was thinking about how dark the eyelashes are in comparison to the sclera, etc

>>3078114
in my case i thought, "hey how cool finally it looks somewhat alike" i never drew a good potrait though.

>>3078113
I'm not trying to be a smart ass. Simply genuinely confused

first, be able to create a good silhouette, outline, and lineart.

you can also "animate" the shapes in three dimensions to internalize the structure.

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>>3078085
Draw with F O R M

You don't necessarily have to draw every single box out but as long as you try to understand the underlying structure you can start to get out of symbol drawing.

It's more of a shift in a way of thinking than anything else.

"symbol drawing" is when people don't understand what they're drawing. It looks flat because they draw with contour instead of form.

>>3078114
Interesting. Can you please share links to these exercises?

>>3078126
Do you have tutorials for this anon?

it's a one step process.
make everything 3D. symbols are 2d representations. if you can imagine it in your head in 3D (ie spinning it around, zooming in and out on different pieces smoothly, looking at it from any angle, decreasing or increasing the amount of polygons) you can 9/10 draw it fine. if you can't do those things usually its because your brain is tricking you- they are showing you a 2D concept instead of a 3D form.

TLDR- Make everything 3D.

>>3078208
Damn that sounds quite complicated to transfer on paper

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>>3078283
it's also incorrect, symbol drawing isn't about how many dimensions you have, after all your retina are flat, you don't see in 3d at all, thinking in 3d is fact using a set of more useful symbols.

symbol drawing in the 'don't do this noobs' way is just drawing based on general concepts instead of visual information, like in this pic related. a is about what most people do, b is if you drew a simple face using visual information rather than symbols.

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>>3078283
it's really not anon.

It's why so many teachers (ones worth their salt at least) say if you can draw the basic 3D shapes, and practice drawing through them, then you can draw anything.

And it's true, because drawing is about translating what you see and simplifying it into those very shapes to the best of your ability.
So when you're drawing, say, a portrait you try to keep yourself from thinking: "those are the eyes, that's a nose, those are lips"
and instead think: "that's a pair of spheres (eyes) that's a rectangular prism (nose) that's a cylinder (lips)" etc.

Once you've practiced drawing cubes and cylinders and whatnot until you can draw them from any angle and have a good grasp of light and shadow, you can draw anything you're observing.

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>>3078085
Turn your reference upside down

>>3078292
That's interesting as fuck. Thanks.

>>3078413
Oh wow, that's amazing. Thank you very much.

>>3078416
How the fuck does this help?

>>3079019
try it. go slow.

>>3079019
your brain's automatic recognition goes out of wack and you see pure shapes instead of "nose, mouth" etc, enables you to draw what you see better

>>3079065
Ok that makes sense