I would love to be a better artist. little help?

Shianra · Post by **Shianra** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 4:56 am

hi, I really adore drawing (almost as much as i love writing, not as much as i love reading) and i hope to someday be a decent anime artist...hope.

please critique the hell out of my drawings. thankyou!

(the trying to colour render is a VERY new thing for me, ie as of last week!)

Post by **Mercury Hat** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 9:02 am

Well I'm not an anatomy master, but right off the bat I can tell you that in the first picture, the hand placed on the knee is backwards and in the second one, Spring's head looks like it's on backwards. Other than that, your drawings are very stylized in that elongated body type I've seen in girl manga like Sailor Moon or things by CLAMP.

Shianra · Post by **Shianra** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 3:34 pm

lol, i can't believe i didn't notice that hand! (erm, it was 4 in the morning i guess)

thanks for an honest crit.

I love sm and CLAMP, so i'm going to take that as a compliment and run with it *runs*

Ryuko · Post by **Ryuko** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 4:27 pm

I don't have crit, (maybe later) but I would say that the best thing to do is draw from life. Or even pictures, and draw nudes. That's what's helped me understand the human body most. Even use references for your comic, if you can find or make them. After a while, it all becomes second nature.

Gengar003 · Post by **Gengar003** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 4:47 pm

In the interest of relevance, what prior instruction have you recieved in regards to drawing, and *how* do you draw? What process do you follow?

I personally adore this thing called "artistic liscence." The way I see it (and I apply this to writing, too, which does not agree with standardized tests), is that anything that is not strictly true to life, if intentional, is the artists' own style, and, while not always to the taste of critics, should not be treated as something that needs fixing.

On that note, I notice:

Your heads seem wide and your characters are unnaturally skinny. (on purpose? ignore)

One thing though that I don't believe was on purpose is that the right leg of the girl on the far right in the 2nd picture doesn't look like it's attached correctly to her hip, almost as if the leg was cut off from its normal posistion and shifted to the right (our left).

Also, the leg on the left of the 2nd to farthest right girl (the one in blue but with blond hair) looks a little bit short. I assume this is because some of its length is going back, away from us, and if that is the case, the shading should show it a little more.

That's really all I've got. pretty soon one of the forum bigshots will swoop down and unload an ak-47 clip of crits on you, but hey. No worries.

Faub · Post by **Faub** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 4:49 pm

Any artist drawing the human figure will benefit from life drawing whether you intend to draw realistically or cartoony. It looks to me like you're using someone else's style to learn how to draw a person rather than learning how to draw a person and drawing in that style. The picture of Spring is evident of this. You drew the face in the style of a face without taking into account how the head should be attached to the body.

Draw yourself in the mirror. Draw people you see in the mall. Draw people you see on the bus. Draw people you see in class or at work or wherever. Practice. Look at what you've drawn. If you drew the arm, leg, neck or head the way you thought it should be drawn and it doesn't look like that in real life, erase it and start over.

Your backgrounds look like you're designing an ad poster so there's nothing there we can critique. Try placing your characters in a setting and having them interact. Also, place the characters together and have them interact with each other. You need to be able to judge where the characters' limbs and torsos will be positioned in relation to each other.

Gengar003 · Post by **Gengar003** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 5:01 pm

Nyahahahah who called it?

Something else I thought of: Our crits may or may not be new/help you/make sense/be useful, but no matter what people tell you, if you find yourself forcing yourself to draw to where it's not fun, just stop. Go back to the way you enjoy drawing. No worries, eh?

Dburkhead · Post by **Dburkhead** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 5:06 pm

I'll also weigh in with those who recommend life drawing, and representative drawing in general (drawing that's meant to be an accurate representation of the object being drawn). Classes are good if you can take them. If not, a good source of material is fashion magazines and the like, the kind with lots of pictures either in content or advertising.

Oh, yes, and not just figures. Draw lots of different stuff.

Sincerely · Post by **Sincerely** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 5:34 pm

I'm having trouble with their waists and hips. I'm a fan of thin waists on women, but there's a point at which it just doesn't look right. I guess that if you're trying to draw in the style of a specific artist who draws waists like that I can't critique it. I agree with Gengar in regards to it looking however you want it to look and thus being uncritiquable if you did it on purpose.

But I still feel compelled to say this: I balk at your statement that you 'want to be a decent anime artist'. The fact is that if you're Japanese and you draw, you are already a manga artist. If you otherwise draw anime you're just imitating. Develop your own style and draw whatever you think looks GOOD regardless of what it looks LIKE. You should try to be a good artist and if your art happens to fall into the category of anime according to your viewers then you've accomplished your goal.

Besides, there are as many different styles of anime as their are anime artists. Asking for help with your art is overwhelmingly going to get you the same answer (as it already has): Learn to draw anatomy from life. Learn to draw realistically before you try to draw a certain style. Develop your own style and have people eventually aspire to draw like you instead of the other way around.

Caduceus · Post by **Caduceus** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 6:13 pm

Life drawing is the Way. If you can't do that, drawing from pictures of people is an alternative but not as good a one. You would be surprised how much better your perception of someone's body is when you see it live than when you see a photo of it.

NightshadeTea · Post by **NightshadeTea** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 6:18 pm

I'm just gonna give you a quick, specific tip on the 4 season's pic, since my brain is not up for much more.

Spring head. I know others have mentioned this, but I'll give you some specifics. It's mostly because of the direction and movement of the hair. The hair falls across the back, so when she would move her head to the right, ... this is really hard to explain... erg... I know! Move your own head like that: from facing forward quickly (but not too quickly, don't hurt yourself!) to the right and notice the way your own hair moves. Even if your hair is short, it should work... unless you're bald... if so, I'm sorry ^^; and would say get something (like a barbie) or someone else.

..Ok, my brain is falling apart... maybe I'll come back and continue with advice, but right now... *catatonic stare accopanied by drool*

Bluebug · Post by **Bluebug** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 6:23 pm

When you're learning how to improve your art, I find it's easier to focus on a few specific things using numerous references. Real life references are great in order to learn proper anatomy, but the work of other artists also has a place, as it's useful in learning how to put anatomy to paper to create an art style.

Here are a couple of things you might want to focus on with your next drawings:

1. Draw people with a sense of weight. This is lacking in both your pieces. In the first, the girl is floating, and in the second, none of the characters really give a sense that their feet are touching the ground. They seem to be prancing in midair. If you learn how to give your characters weight and toss some shadows on the ground, your pictures will be that much stronger.

2. Learn how cloth falls from the body. All your characters look as if they are wearing spandex. Their clothing follows the lines of their body much too closely. Here's an exercise that may help : Sketch the characters without clothes on first (yeah, sounds kinky I know ^_^). Then draw in their clothes. Focus on how cloth folds and wrinkles with the way the body is positioned.

3. Understand how hair falls. Hair is one of the hardest things to draw properly. Get as many references as you can and practice, practice, practice.

All that aside, I really like how you colored your first pic. It's got a very watercolory feel to it, and it's impressive for your first try at digital coloring. Your character designs are pretty interesting and varied in terms of costuming, and I like the idea of personifying the seasons. But why aren't any of them male?

Chibiartstudios · Post by **Chibiartstudios** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 12:05 am

bluebug wrote:When you're learning how to improve your art, I find it's easier to focus on a few specific things using numerous references. Real life references are great in order to learn proper anatomy, but the work of other artists also has a place, as it's useful in learning how to put anatomy to paper to create an art style.

Here are a couple of things you might want to focus on with your next drawings:

1. Draw people with a sense of weight. This is lacking in both your pieces. In the first, the girl is floating, and in the second, none of the characters really give a sense that their feet are touching the ground. They seem to be prancing in midair. If you learn how to give your characters weight and toss some shadows on the ground, your pictures will be that much stronger.

2. Learn how cloth falls from the body. All your characters look as if they are wearing spandex. Their clothing follows the lines of their body much too closely. Here's an exercise that may help : Sketch the characters without clothes on first (yeah, sounds kinky I know ^_^). Then draw in their clothes. Focus on how cloth folds and wrinkles with the way the body is positioned.

3. Understand how hair falls. Hair is one of the hardest things to draw properly. Get as many references as you can and practice, practice, practice.

All that aside, I really like how you colored your first pic. It's got a very watercolory feel to it, and it's impressive for your first try at digital coloring. Your character designs are pretty interesting and varied in terms of costuming, and I like the idea of personifying the seasons. But why aren't any of them male?

I feel I should elaborate on this.

On No. 1 the best way to do this is to look at feet placement. Ironcally a concept I am only now starting to truly grasp after years of avoiding it in the same way many artists avoid drawing hands. Good foot placement is a pain in the ass but doing it right is really what can make a scene work. And yes, life drawing helps. Or if your like me and can't afford another life drawing class, get FHM and overbuff fitness mags and draw the people in them (a constant reminder of why I'm not gay too. What do you women types SEE in us!? I mean, I'M sexy and all... but...).

Next off, clothes. Pretty much what was said was true but you must keep weight in mind when drawing them. Investing time in ciaroscura drawing (Drawing without lines) really helps this.

No.3 was hair. I found this to be surprisingly hard since I wanted to do anime type hair and it's an alchemic mix of reality and steel wire. Don't make the mistake I made and try to draw exagerates styles from the get go. Study real hair and give it a mild anime kick. Then when you start to get it more you can make it more Goku-ish if you like.

One more thing you should keep in mind is the location of the horizon line. This is important because it's almost never talked about in the context of figgure drawing. In case you don't know the horrizon line is the line where everything dissapears in the background. Read perspective book if you want more. But basically you should make note of where it should be. Most of the time it's at the eye level of the character you want to focus on. This will most often be true even at some times if it's at an odd angle. For example when looking from the bottom up most times the character's eyes will cross the horrizon line above him. This is important to note because your figgure drawing will be affected by this. If for some reason you want a horrizon line at thigh level (let's say you want to show the POV of a child) you will be able to see things like the circular bottom of a character's sleeve where it meets the elbow. If you where at the normal eye level you could only see the top. Take a look at this. It was drawn fast so it sucks but make note of the sleves, the face, and the bottom of the shirt as well as some of the folds. Notice how the first feels "normal" while the second makes the same figgure appear tall or at least standing on a higher place.

You can see another example here:

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/15642871/

Notice that raising the horrison line (where the water meets the sky) to above eye level adds a great sense of space (the fact that this guy is the shit when it comes to art doesn't hurt either). Also notice that his hair is not all that unrealistic and the foot placement is perfect. Alot of anime artists don't do this and it annoys me.

So thats my 2 cents. Hope it helps!

Bottom line? Use perspective

Shianra · Post by **Shianra** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 7:12 am

thanks for the constructive crit.

'preciate it

i AM actually enrolled to do a life drawing class in 2 months...so maybe that'll help. certainly hope so.

and yes. All the characters i've put up here are dancing/floating in mid air. I didn't try to ground them at all

Ryuko · Post by **Ryuko** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 9:20 am

Perspective... Noooo.... ;_;

Faub · Post by **Faub** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 10:30 am

Perspective ...YES!

It's a simple method of producing realistic looking space. Know it and use it.

Chibiartstudios · Post by **Chibiartstudios** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 10:55 am

There is a book called perspective for comic book artists. VERY GOOD book. I highly recomend you get it and read it many times through.

Shianra · Post by **Shianra** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 2:51 pm

mm, i get perspective. they've been drilling it into my head at uni for 2 years now. its just a lot easy to apply to cubes then it is to human cartoons...and takes effort...

i'm more worried about the anatomy

Warofwinds · Post by **Warofwinds** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 3:21 pm

I don't have any new crit, but I just wanted to say that if you wanted your banner to show up your sig, you have to put the full url down, not just "banner.jpg"

For example, this is what mine says (without the link) ][ img ]http://guide.keenspace.com/images/banners/3885.jpg[ /img ]

That is the url from uploading it on your comic control page in the banner section as "/public_html/images/[insert image name].jpg"