drawing w/ your shoulder ...

[LMR70]

Do you ever notice how Don draws beautiful s shape lines with amazing control and rhythm. Anyway, I noticed when Don draws, he's using mostly his shoulder for better control of his lines. Does anyone have any tips or exercises (especially Don) for gaining better control. Im trying to get in the habit of drawing with my shoulder and not the hand or wrist.

My animation teacher is always stressing, draw from your shoulder and keep those lines loose and scribbly. I've been doing the circles warm ups (video tip). Plus Ive been drawing s shapes on big sheets of newsprint.
My teacher also said I should buy a looney toons DVD, freeze frame scenes and do air gestures over them. The latter sounds iffy to me...

[AJartist]

Air gestures? hmm, thats a thought. Is this teacher the real thing? Has he ever been in the buisness??

[Rodney]

Something related... which you are likely aware of already.

It's harder to draw 'from the shoulder' when holding our pencils as if writing. Don (and many other artists) usually show an alternate way to hold the pencil loosely in the hand which facilitates the smooth lines and the articulation of the shoulder rather than the wrist/hand. Note that this method is generally not recommended or used when 'detailing'.

Have you see the youtube video where the teacher draws a perfect (large!) circle on the whiteboard/chalkboard in less than a second? He accomplishes that by using the natural arc of the shoulder's rotation with the arm fully extended. The circle would be nearly impossible to draw as smoothly (and quickly) otherwise.

Both of these thoughts lead to my own personal tip, which would be to draw quickly. Don't think about it, just get it drawn as fast as you possibly can in as few lines as necessary. See it first of course... but as soon as you see it in your mind... capture it as quickly as you can. Don't deliberate... liberate your pencil! 'Thinking' will just interfere with transference of the image that is trying to get from your brain through your pencil onto the paper. So, Don't think about it. Draw it!

When detailing... adding important nuances and filling in gaps left in the remaining areas of interest... that's when we'll need to do some deeper thinking.

Added: I should note that I'm very much a creature of habit and I tend to hold my pencil in the standard writer's hold. This is probably why my drawings are often scrunched and constipated. ;)

[jeremyhopkins]

I think Rodney described it best when he said that Don sees the image in his mind first and when he starts to draw it is just realization of what he has visualized. So the bulk of the problems have already been dealt with before starting the drawing. Then if you can lightly start to describe the essence of pose with a few lines, then it helps validate the initial inspiration. If you're getting too tight at this stage try holding your pencil parallel to the paper as Rodney mentioned or you can see clearly in this video of Peter De Seve drawing:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCG5Aa5LQT0

same with Villpu at the 2:00 mark:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lDMVKCajh4

There's nothing wrong with using your wrist for the details and to tighten up where you want to focus the viewers' eyes. Though if you can avoid getting too tight early on, it'll help you express your feelings more easily and if you enjoy Don's work, I'm guessing those are the qualities you enjoy most.

Everyone has their own approach and only the results matter. Try posting your work so we can see where you're struggling.

[LMR70]

Thats for the response guys, Im getting more disciplined
drawing with my shoulder. I just wanted to see
how others work. Don has such control but i know it just takes practice.
I will scan some images and post some of my quick gestures
in a bit. Thanks for the Vilppu tip, I just ordered one of his books.

[Sam Ellis]

I think as you roll your hand/ wrist over (thumb-side towards your drawing surface) you can't help but use your shoulder as your elbow becomes unplanted from it's position as fulcrum, so my advice is to roll your hand over more when you draw.