Any advice on how to draw mecha and other machinery?

[Anonymous No.5049482]

BESIDES just growing my visual library and/or getting a degree in engineering. I can pick apart existing designs, but I can't come up with my own and have it look like a mecha without being too derivative.

[Anonymous No.5049487]

>>5049482
You have to FEEL the mecha

[Anonymous No.5049505]

just draw

[Anonymous No.5049507]

Feel the aluminum

[Anonymous No.5049628]

>>5049482
>HOW DO I DO THING???
>NO NOT THAT ANSWER!

[Anonymous No.5050050]

>>5049628
>asking for substantial advice besides just "look at existing things lol" is now a bad thing

[Anonymous No.5050066]

Nanoboxes son.

[Anonymous No.5050069]

>>5050050
And by "substantial advice", you mean a step by step 'How To Draw Mecha' guide.
No one can hold your hand through every little thing expanding your visual library is precisely how you learn to design things.

[Anonymous No.5050181]

>>5050069
>you mean a step by step 'How To Draw Mecha' guide.
no, no i don't. don't put words in my mouth
there's so much more to character design in general than just "expanding your visual library" even without having to take into consideration how things come together as something that LOOKS like it could be an actual machine

[Anonymous No.5050183]

>>5050181
Just be talented

[Anonymous No.5050220]

>>5049482
practice shape design, coming up with interesting silhouettes and designing your mecha inside them

[Anonymous No.5050230]

every original mecha design has already been done anyway, even if you get to a point where you think you’ve come up with something new chances are someone’s already done it anyway. and by someone i mean someone japanese that’s automatic better. so just study cars and mechs and worry about what looks right rather than what’s derivative.

[Anonymous No.5050245]

>>5049482
Being derivative is the answer. But instead of being derivative from one design, be derivative from 10 designs. Remember this anon, copying from one source is plagiarism but copying from 200 sources is research. It's litrally just mix-matching.
Now get drawing. If I spot another thread from you I will punch you in the throat with a crowbar.

[Anonymous No.5050250]

>>5049482
I couldn't recommend you enough the book "how to draw" by Scott Robertson. It's fucking autistic/mathematic and hard to get through but once you do you'll have a great grasp on perspective and mechanical design. This man is a genius at drawing machinery.

[Anonymous No.5050265]

>>5050181
The principles of mech design are the same as the principles of character design, but with mechanical parts.
This should be part of your regular art education.

[Anonymous No.5050280]

>>5049482
>How to design a mecha
>Think about the world creating the mecha: What resources do they have? What is their budget? What do they value?
>Think about the function of the mecha: What is it designed to do in combat? What opponents would it be facing that may require different design specs? Where does the rider sit if its a manned vehicle?
>Think about the motif of the mech: What is the viewer supposed to relate the mech to? What things does the mech look like?
>without being too derivative
I know you don't want this answer but this part really does require expanding your visual library. Mecha can be inspired by lots of things and you need to be able to think of or be inspired by lots of shit to make it.

[Anonymous No.5050831]

>>5050250
>>5050220
This is what I wanted to hear, thanks. I'll go check it out.
>>5050280
I'm not saying it's not an important part, but what I personally have issues the most is with making it look believable, not lacking sources of inspiration. I appreciate the pointers.

[Anonymous No.5050883]

>>5049482
HTW By Schizo Robertson
https://gumroad.com/l/renb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6yJO9gKSAI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZluGXgpdJj4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDK-PGgvWC0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv-LVUCZWyU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk7UnBsgInA&ab_channel=ScottRobertson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JinlgLn5hb4
also pyw

[Anonymous No.5051227]

Good luck getting a serious comment here
Deconstruct a medabot design and do it several times and you might get confortable doing gundams eventually.

[Anonymous No.5051667]

>>5050883
I'll go through those once I get back home.

This is about as far as I got on my first attempt before making the thread. I thought it'd be easier if I began with the silhouette, but gave up when I realized I just slapped a Gundam's face onto Unit-01 and then made it into a dragon (the extension on its right arm is a shield in the shape of a dragon's head). I'm not posting any of my regular stuff, it's just some really basic anatomy studies and anime shit.

[Anonymous No.5051685]

>>5051667
i forgot to mention that my tablet's dead atm so i have to make do with my tablet's touchpad, but i think it gets the point across even though some of it is wobbly

[Anonymous No.5051726]

>>5049482
Perspective and learning to draw things with rigid symmetry. Drawing cars and other vehicles can help you get used to it. Unlike humans or creatures, metal does not squish and bend, so you have to keep that in mind when designing a robot; you can't "get away with" as many things as you could in creature drawing. You don't need a degree in engineering, just an understanding of how moving parts work. It may sound silly, but if you really want to get into it, lego technic or similar kits that allow you to build moving joints and parts can actually help if you need a tangible model.

Another way to do it is to design a character or machine first, then work away at it until it starts to make sense. Say you want a badass robot dinosaur of some sort; you don't start by drawing actuators and hydralic limbs, you start by drawing a dinosaur: not the full thing with shading and the works, just enough that it's recognizably a dinosaur. From there, you refine the shape of it into something more mechanical, replacing organic structures with rigid ones, overlapping plates, joints, bolts, pumps, and whatever else tickles your fancy. It takes longer this way, but it is a bit easier than grinding passionless study drawings.

At the end of the day, it shares the same fundamental process as organic creatures, just instead of mastering circles and ovals, you're mastering squares and angles that do not change shape.

[Anonymous No.5051779]

[Anonymous No.5051791]

>>5049482
Honestly just slap a bunch of pistons and wires on it

[Anonymous No.5051801]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyFbSSVXgGw

[Anonymous No.5051842]

>>5051779
Sauce on the image?

[Anonymous No.5052956]

>>5051779
god bless

[Anonymous No.5053326]

>>5049482
Here’s a secret, even classic anime used models

[Anonymous No.5053362]

Study anatomy. Particularly the structure of how bones connect together. Look at animals as well to see how their joints connect and then study some armored knight designs and take notes on how it wraps around the form and then start looking at parts of like...construction machines, factory machines, ect ect and how joints connect and apply them to the mech you're attempting to draw.

Most mecha cockpits are modelled after jet airplane cockpits so look at some vehicles like that and try to incorporate elements of their design into your mecha as well. Keep in mind textures as well. The little details of screws and the lines that indicate metal plating are important to note as well

[Anonymous No.5053365]

>>5051779
this is yummy, thank you

[Anonymous No.5053465]

Why is everyone ignoring the principles of design here?

Op, here are the three you need to pay attention to:
1. Rhythm
2. Contrasts
3. Subject matter

If you can understand those three principles you will have understood all of composition and design. Rhythm is obvious, it’s the flow of parts. Don’t design a square and blocky machine. Even WALL-E has a beautiful rhythm to his poses and mannerisms.

For contrasts, it’s not just about drawing your eye to the important places, it’s also about embuing your design with rich variety within the main rhythm (movement) of your design.

For subject matter, well, that’s up to your own personal tastes. This is the storytelling part of the design. In Gurren Lagann, they made the mechs look like Samurai. This is also a part of building your visual library. There’s no right or wrong here, it is only wrong if it doesn’t tell your story

Check out Vilppu’s composition lecture series on NMA for more. I basically just summarized his course here for you.