I haven't used it in a long time myself. I find it somewhat infuriating to use.

Hmm, might I ask..

What do you do for..
sketching..
inking..
coloring/shading?

Sketching - paper and pencil
Inking - Illustrator 8 (yeah, it's old)
Coloring/shading - Photoshop CS (v8) for computer color

What do you mean circle sketch method? You mean like, draw a circle for the head, ovals for the arms/legs/ etc, circles for the hands, and build/modify off of that?

"I take frigging FOREVER to draw ANYTHING."

Same here, kinda. It appears I take a while, and by all means, I am quite slow, but when compared to some of my friends who either take 5 minutes, or also take a while, seem to only be half as good. Each artist has their own methods.

Aye, you got it Chaos. I not only do the method in a means that makes me take forever, but doesn't seem to give me artistic guidance or perspective that everyone else has. My current frustrations on art right now are seemingly limitless.

Well that style seems to work for me for most aspects of what I draw.

Other times for my main stuff, like still life, landscapes, etc, I either just draw/paint it, or I use basic shapes and "sculpt" shapes out of them.

To each their own. I am sure you will find what works to you at some point. Don't be afraid to experiment and take risks.

Well art isn't as much of a risk as say.. business, or gambling.. or even for me to consider new method's a "risk." But I'm sure you saw first-hand people such as dalus in open canvas who don't get all circley like I do. Topped off with how fast he does it..

I tend to get frustrated with myself when I can't even get near as close as such skill.

Well, there is only one thing to do - Practice!

ultimately, the frustration comes FROM the practice though. As well as the lack of knowing the perspectives and such..

Well, then perhaps take a break, look into your technique.

This is what I do when I get to the point of practicing directly into an art block, achieving absolutely nothing:

1: Practice whatever it is.
2: Use references. Trace over them to get a feel for the lines you'd have to draw.
3: try to build up the structure of them in your method of practicing, or, find a new way of building up.
4: apply it to your images

If it fails and you get frustrated, just sit back, relax, take a break. Study other artist's images, try the above steps on occasion. Loosen up, and try again. Or wait till you have inspiration.

Who knows, it might work!

I think I know what will inspire me though.. at least.. one thing that would.

a very comprehensible guide or mentoring to drawing that an art nub like me could follow.

And getting my sense of perspective back.

That'll inspire the heck outta me.

well I'm like you I didn't use a structure to draw my pics.

And noticing the above reply to Lysozyme:

I ask you: What do you use oC for, and also, what version?

I tend to do the circle sketch method but, I'm no skilled artist. :P

You just really have to practice. Try to get comfortable with a couple of tools it supplies you [unless you use v.1, which isn't a lot of tools].

Yeah, it's confusing compared to photoshop..

*smiles* Awh, don't let our Oc session get ya down, Aury. Like I said before- clearly this circle technique isn't doing you any good, so hows about you try doing the lines like I did?? Go out and buy an anatomy book (I still have to buy one yet) and if not- find some pictures of real people and draw them out.

Yeah, I've been looking around on the web for a decent book on anatomy, but nothing as of yet is helping.

I tend to get stubborn with things when frustrated though, as a heads up.

I can't do the lines because I lack the imagination. x.x

I just downloaded OC, have no idea how to use it yet...

I'm starting to think it was a useless idea though, I can't draw digitally, only colour :P

And just to quiz about..

what are your methods for sketching/inking/coloring?

I sketch on paper and from there clean up the sketch as best I can. Once it's scanned, I trace the sketch on another layer, making adjustments if I see fit..

Then for colouring, I start with flat colours and usually end up having different layers for each colour. Then I paint on shadows and highlights, using a brush setting that  ivybeth taught me to use.

Then I usually go over the line art with dark colours, so it's not as harsh as a black line. Add the sparkle to the eyes and viola, I'm done!

I think I explained all that pretty much right, haha. I'm not too great with digital art lingo :P

It takes me forever to do a sketch too, and it's astronomically more difficult for me to draw with it in OC than on paper. Inking is even harder for me.

There are people that convert from paper to digital, or they can do both, but I'm not someone who can do that. I'm a paper dude, but the tablet is a nice tool to have for its other special uses, including pressurized brushes etc.

hmm.. OC is very VERY unorthodox compared to photoshop I've noticed.