How to sketch awesome objects gradually

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Drawing a circle gradually

How can I draw a circle outline so that it looks like the circle is being drawn rather than just appearing drawn
I currently have this
draw_circle(x, y, 28, true);
which draws it in one go but I want to show it being drawn pixel by pixel so it looks like it was drawn by hand

Friendly Tyrant

Forum Staff
Admin

It depends on how dynamic you want it. You could, for example, use a sequence and have a circle track and a mask track and then as the sequence plays you move the mask to show the circle (see here). Alternatively, you could draw the circle using primitives (see here).

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BiTrunade

Member

Instead of using draw_circle function, you should use primitives and alarms to create each vertex of the circle one by one to create the impression of drawing a circle.

In the create event you would have the following variables:

verts = 0; // This to keep track of how many vertices created verts_max = 360; // This is the maximum angle of drawing (360 = full-circle) verts_step = 360/18; // This how many steps the circle increases by, the smaller the step the smoother the circle and vice versa verts_time = room_speed; // Time of drawing, draw a vertex 1 second at a time radius = 100; // Radius of the circle alarm[0] = verts_time; // Trigger alarm[0] after 1 second

In alarm 0 event you would have to increase the verts variable by the amount of steps:

if(verts // Until no more vertices needed

And finally, in the draw event, you would need a for loop to draw the circle, except instead of setting the maximum value of i to verts_max , you would set it to verts itself, to force the loop to stop at the number of vertices created. Therefore:

draw_set_color(c_white); // READ THE MANUAL TO LEARN MORE ABOUT PRIMITIVES draw_primitive_begin(pr_linestrip); // Set the primitive type to pr_linestrip for(var i = 0; i < verts; i+=verts_step) < // Create a for loop with an initial value of 0 and a maximum of verts created draw_vertex((room_width/2)+lengthdir_x(radius, i), (room_height/2)+lengthdir_y(radius, i)); // Draw the vertex at the right anagle, with a distance (radius) away from the center >draw_primitive_end(); // End primitive

And that is how you would code it, the trick is to make the maximum value of i in i < verts to verts and not 360, this would stop the loop at the current number of vertices created, thus, drawing the circle one vertex at a time.

Xenosis

Guest

Instead of using draw_circle function, you should use primitives and alarms to create each vertex of the circle one by one to create the impression of drawing a circle.

In the create event you would have the following variables:

verts = 0; // This to keep track of how many vertices created verts_max = 360; // This is the maximum angle of drawing (360 = full-circle) verts_step = 360/18; // This how many steps the circle increases by, the smaller the step the smoother the circle and vice versa verts_time = room_speed; // Time of drawing, draw a vertex 1 second at a time radius = 100; // Radius of the circle alarm[0] = verts_time; // Trigger alarm[0] after 1 second

In alarm 0 event you would have to increase the verts variable by the amount of steps:

if(verts // Until no more vertices needed

And finally, in the draw event, you would need a for loop to draw the circle, except instead of setting the maximum value of i to verts_max , you would set it to verts itself, to force the loop to stop at the number of vertices created. Therefore:

draw_set_color(c_white); // READ THE MANUAL TO LEARN MORE ABOUT PRIMITIVES draw_primitive_begin(pr_linestrip); // Set the primitive type to pr_linestrip for(var i = 0; i < verts; i+=verts_step) < // Create a for loop with an initial value of 0 and a maximum of verts created draw_vertex((room_width/2)+lengthdir_x(radius, i), (room_height/2)+lengthdir_y(radius, i)); // Draw the vertex at the right anagle, with a distance (radius) away from the center >draw_primitive_end(); // End primitive

And that is how you would code it, the trick is to make the maximum value of i in i < verts to verts and not 360, this would stop the loop at the current number of vertices created, thus, drawing the circle one vertex at a time.

Thanks that works great, is there anyway to smooth it further with anti aliasing? I messed around with the verts_steps value and it was smoother but still a few jagged egdes

Improving Your Drawings

Draw daily. [1] X Expert Source

Kelly Medford
Professional Artist Expert Interview. 2 July 2019. Practice, practice, practice. That’s the mantra of famous artists across the world, and practice is the sure-fire way to improve your drawings. Even spending a few minutes a day on sketch engages your brain with your art and helps you learn new techniques.

Bring a sketchbook with you everywhere. If you always have a small notebook with you, then you open up the possibility to draw anything – from people on the bus the nature scenes to awe-inspiring city skylines. You need to practice to be a better drawer, so set yourself up to practice anytime.

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• A decent set of starter pencils, available at any art store, might include a 4H, 3H, 2H, H, HB , B, 2B 3B and 4B. [2] X Research source
• Play around with your new pencils to test how each one feels. Note the differences in the lines and try to incorporate different pencils into different drawings.

• Make 3-4 timelines and practice transitions. How can you use each pen to shade the line from completely black to completely white?

• Check your local art store, parks department, or community college for local drawing classes.

• Practice recreating classic drawings to learn from the masters – da Vinci was the king of human anatomy, and his drawings have a lot to teach you.
• Never trace – you don’t actually practice drawing, just making lines.

Draw upside down. Drawing upside down forces you to forget about trying to make the drawing look right and instead drawing what you actually see. You can get similar results by drawing through a mirror, or practicing with distorted or Photoshopped images. [3] X Research source

Study your source material. [4] X Expert Source

• If you are drawing people, invest in an illustrated book of human anatomy, or sign-up for drawing classes with a live model.
• If you are drawing animals, spend a day with your sketchbook at the zoo or purchase an illustrated textbook on animal anatomy.
• If you are drawing landscapes or city scenes, you should invest in a book about perspective to help you accurately create depth in your drawings.

• If you cannot get a model, use a skeleton from your school’s biology department to learn proportions.
• They also make anatomically correct models of hands, heads, and the skeletal system as well, though they are often more expensive.
• Wooden dolls are a very useful tool for drawing, they are a great and cheap way of learning how to draw the body.

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Part 2
Part 2 of 3:

Perfecting Contour Drawing

• In general, contour lines are the first thing you do in a drawing.

Give yourself guide lines. This is often overlooked by beginning artists who dive right into the work, but it is incredibly important to get accurate drawings. For example, if you are drawing a large scene, start with faint lines that break your drawing up into thirds both horizontally and vertically. You should have nine small boxes on your page. These will help you to frame your drawing and put everything where it should be, giving you reference points as you work.

• You can also use your guidelines to help. What “box” of your guidelines does the subject fit into? Do they take up the whole page, or a third of it?

• Make sure you make these marks lightly, so that you can easily erase them later.
• Make a small circle or dot for each joint to help you “move” arms and legs into accurate poses.

• Once you’re happy with your new lines, erase away your light contour marks from underneath the new drawing.
• Work slowly, making each line carefully and erasing when you are unhappy. You need your contour to be accurate in order for the final drawing to improve.

Draw from the largest object down to the smallest. Never start a drawing at the details. Once you’ve finished you basic contours, it’s time to move on to the details. This is where most artists get caught up early on, spending all of their time and energy on the small details while neglecting the larger proportions.

Practice perspective to give scenes realistic depth. Perspective is why far away objects appear small and nearby ones appear large. To get accurate drawings, you need to have accurate perspective. [7] X Expert Source

• Draw two diagonal lines coming away from the dot. Anything that fits between those two lines is the same size in real life, though perspective makes it appear as if they are different. [8] X Research source

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Part 3
Part 3 of 3:

Perfecting Shading

• Shading can imply lines as well. Think about the two small ridges between your nose and upper lip. While you could draw lines for them, that would make them unrealistically pronounced. Try shading them in instead, darkening the areas around them lightly to make them “appear” in the middle of the dark patches.

Think about the light sources. Shadows are created because they are exposed to less light then other parts of the scene. Where the light is coming from, what type of light it is, and even the time of day will all affect your shadows. Shadows are created on opposite sides of the light. For example, if you place a ball down and shine a light on it from the right, the left side of the ball will appear darker. This is where you would shade if you were drawing the ball.

• Direct light, like spotlights and clear, sunny days, creates dramatic shadows with hard edges.
• Indirect light, light far away lights, multiple lights, or cloudy days, create softer, muted shadows with faded edges.

• Map out the highlights: where is the light the strongest? Is there any glare?
• Sketch out the shading: where does the shadow on each object start and stop?
• Contour any hard shadows. Are there any dark shapes created by the light, like a person’s shadow in the sun?

Focus on gradual transitions. Shading is the art of gradually changing the amount of light from one area to the other. Start lightly, shading in the entire object with your lightest pencil strokes. Keep going over the drawing by filling in the darker areas slowly, one shade at a time.

Blend your shadows. This is the best way to make realistic, gradual shadows on any drawing. Using a tissue, your finger, or light marks with your pencil, blend the darker areas into the lighter ones by rubbing from dark to light. Most pencils will blend only slightly, while drawing with charcoal allows you to dramatically blend your shadows with your fingers.

• As you get more advanced, add in clear objects, complex shapes, or a second light to practice more difficult shading techniques.
• Shade in an old children’s coloring book, which are usually simple contour lines, for advanced practice.

Learn the different types of shading. While the most realistic form of shading is an even, gradual blending (“smooth” shading), there are a variety of shading styles for different artists and styles of work. For example, many cartoons use cross-hatching or dots to indicate shading. The basic principle, however, is the same – more marks equals darker shadows. Test our multiple types of shading to find what works best for you.

Hatching: Single, straight lines create shadows. More lines make darker shadows. [10] X Expert Source

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