Normally I do not double post, but this is an achievement post and I have something to show.
So I drew from real life a whole bunch today. I went to a coffee shop and drew people, but they kept moving, so the drawings were only shaped somewhat more properly than my regular shit ones. At least the poses were awesome, because people sit strangely in chairs. Then I went home and drew things there.
I learned some things the hard way:
1) THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO ESCAPE THE VALLEY OF SUCK.
2) People have REALLY WEIRD noses. I mean REALLY guys.
3) I am nowhere near as fast with a pencil as LNCP. I will work on that.
4) My scanner is the suck. I drew my TV set in the living room, which is actually really nice. However the top got cut off a little (even though it was already cut off due to the size of my pad) and so did the right side, which was disappointing because I liked how the shadows came out on that side. Also it got rotated counter clockwise a bit. Either way...
-snip- nah i wont post anything here until i am better
Yes, drawing in coffee shops or malls is a pretty good way to improve your skill. People tend to sit and make poses that are kinda hard to comprehend and understand from all the angles, leading usually to anatomy mistakes, but the weirder the poses, the better the practice.
You can also always ask a friend to pose for you, so you can the feeling for proportions and anatomy. I have to disagree with you on the subject from earlier... You said you can't "see it" like it's something you can't do and will never be able to. Seeing the world like an artist, catching many little things that "normal" people don't see is something you have to learn too, it's not something we're born with or without.
After getting the hang of the figure, move on to more and more details, and eventually the face, which is the easiest to mess up when aiming for realism. If you or the model aren't comfortable with you drawing them, you can always find lots of reference pictures on the net. Many sites have stock photos made for artists to use as a reference. Just be sure to give them the proper credit
Some artists even work in front of a mirror and draw themselves sitting, but that's kinda strange to me, so I don't know if it's a good way to practice.
Also you got me curious about the weird noises people made
Anything in particular worth sharing?