Time to comment on everything because doing homework is overrated 8D
I hope this doesn't turn into yet another "everyone posts art, nobody comments"...
HOW TO LEARN HOW TO DRAW/GET BETTER AT DRAWING
An easy guide by Crazy Linoone
1. Find a picture you like.
2. Stare at it.
3. Stare at it some more.
4. Stare at it long and hard.
5. Attempt to emulate (not trace!) what you find good about the picture
6. Repeat from step 1
Seriously. Get a reference and start from there.
Also, the amount of time and effort you put into a piece of art has strong positive correlation with the quality of the output art. If you spend 10 minutes on something, it most likely looks like crap. I usually spend
at least 30 minutes on my pencil sketches and they aren't even that good, so this should give you a baseline on how long you should take...
Also, draw bigger! Seriously. It allows you to put in tons more detail than otherwise, and details = good (usually). And then you can always resize the picture later to make all the mistakes go away.
As for the manga-style thing... The thing is that I've been stuck in a stylistic limbo for
years. Yes, I tend to be more on the manga side, but that's because I try to draw in manga-style. If I don't try, my style tends to implode and go all over the place. It's not stylistic enough to be called cartoon, but it's not manga enough to be called manga. I (would like to think that I) can draw realism, too, but just don't expect me to shade it because it's too much effort, guh. So the point of this antidote is that sometimes you don't get locked into manga style, but it's always better to be safe than sorry.
And now for the actual comments (
super duper blunt because I'm too lazy to sugarcoat them):
@Spunky the raichu: I'll comment on it once it looks like you put in more effort into drawing this. I'm sorry, but it really looks like you drew these in 10 minutes.
@Ice: Whoaaaaaa improvement! So much improvement! That Ren drawing is awesome. The only thing I would suggest changing is making the ground close to the front have a bit more focus, so it doesn't look like she's hovering or just weird. You have the same problem with your other art, really: your backgroudns tend to be a lot more out of focus than the characters. This works unless the background is at the same place in space as the characters (such as the ground), then it just looks weird. Guh I'm horrible at explaining things somebody help. Also, watch your faces; your body anatomy has improved to the point where I can't complain anymore (maybe besides the lazyblobbyhands, but that's just laziness), but Butterfly Girl's face is a bit wonky.
@Bayleafqueen: Eyebrows. Where are they. Also, I see that you're falling into the basic anime trap (aka the reason dA is filled with so much crappy art): you're not putting enough detail into things. You're looking at the "popular", usually low quality anime such as Pokemon and Yugioh (or even other people's art) as your reference. Stop immediately and look for higher quality refs, because it'll make your art look better really fast. In fact, don't use anime as refs because they are (generally speaking) of lower quality than manga art. Stuff like Death Note and D. Gray-Man are examples of manga with detailed art. General tips: don't use harsh straight lines for manga-style drawings; use thin, flowey lines if that makes any sense whatsoever. For example, hair is (usually) not a series of spikes; it has layers, and it's soft and it
moves. Try to find ref picture and emulate it (see art guide above).
@Pathos: aadsfaklsdfj so sugary and cute. Lovely coloring; it's very soft and shows the folds in the clothes very well. That wing is beautiful, too. The green-eyed guy's hair is bothering me a bit though: I don't think sideburns should be have hair flowing into it like that? Also, about the eyes... Uh, maybe try giving them a bit more eyewhite or something. I think their problem is that they look like they're popping out too much (hence the doll-like look), but I'm not sure how to fix that....
@Coloursfall: Your stylized art things are great! Uh not sure what to comment here because it's hard to comment on stylized stuff. Perhaps you should try using thinner lines when outlining the more detailed bits (the girl with the bow, the zombieperson) so it doesn't look as messy?
@Everglider: Can you stick that image in a link? It's kinda big and making my screen sad. Actual critique: work on your anatomy. The horse is blobby but horses are not supposed to be blobby; they have joints and muscles and stuff. Try to look at refs and tutorials when you draw, and sketch outlines (like the circley things for where the head, bodies, legs go). They really help.
@The Omskivar: This image was originally really small, isn't it? By really small, I mean "smaller than half a page before you scanned it". If so, try to draw bigger next time because pencils are kinda thick and hard to use well (unless you're drawing stylized things). Also, the mouse-thing's hindlegs are kinda off; the hind leg on our right should be more to our right. If you draw a skeleton for reference, it should become hard to see (right now, the leg is coming out of its butt). The concept is great though!
And now,
shameless advertising. Something about this picture is really, really, really bothering me, and I can't figure out what it is. I think it's because the (fore)head isn't big enough, but comments would be appreciated.
