We’ve seen Mike Morris demonstrate how to draw solid characters by “drawing through,” but illustrating with mass in mind is just one component of fleshing out a 2-D drawing to give it a 3-D feel.
This time the Simpsons storyboard artist shows us how you can add gravity to your work by applying implied weight to characters and items large and small.
Using Photoshop, Mike demonstrates how considerations in draftsmanship and posing make all the difference in how light or heavy characters appear on a page. There are a number of things to think about in order to not only add weight, but also distribute it through a drawing properly to achieve a convincing relationship between a character and their environment.
Is a character wet or dry? How dense is the character’s physical makeup? What kind of materials do they consist of? Answering these questions with your art makes a massive difference in portraying implied weight.
See Morris explain how to illustrate with implied weight below:
