Any Drawing Tips?

[SpongeyKid]

So I've asked this question over at SBM, and they gave me some amazing tips that'll definitely help me, but I also wanna hear from you guys! I need as much advice about drawing as possible.

 

Just in general anything you'd think would help me improve my skills, drawing style, etc. I was also thinking about starting a comic book series, but I think I should wait until I get better.

 

Any advice would be appreciated (Also, if this is in the wrong forum, feel free to move it)

[Guest]

be 4D

(In all honesty, my drawings suck, so I don't know what to say =/)

[terminoob]

Pay $50,000 a year for art school.

 

Edit: Okay I should probably give you advice since I'm the only one here in art school. I'm not going to sum it up because if you're serious about art then you'll read all of this.

 

- Give up the idea of having a "style" for a while. That comes later. Focus on getting the fundamentals down exactly right before you move on to making the figure your own. I'm going through this right now, as a matter of fact - I didn't have any "real" figure drawing classes until this year (my third year at art school, and it's not even the one I originally attended - I had to transfer to get this education), and because of that I was already so deep into my own comfort zone/style that it's much harder for me to draw the figure correctly than it is for other people in the class. The way I draw evolved from a lack of knowing how to draw and just kind of making it up as I went along, and that's not good because I'm not thinking about where things go on the figure - I just think about keeping the figure in my style. I'm turning 21 soon, and I'm already wishing someone had told me the basic principles before I started drawing. So, here's what I suggest. There's this book, it's called Drawing the Head and Figure. It's a small little floppy book, about 100 or so pages. It's by this guy named Jack Hamm. Buy this goddamn book. It is, literally, you're one-stop shopping guide to how to draw anything concerning the human figure. Buy this. Burn every page into your brain. If you're looking to get into comics, then you're in luck because I'm going to school for that. There are a countless number of books on how to draw comics and they're all garbage. The one book you need is How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way. Again, much like the previous book I mentioned, it's a small floppy little book that will save your life. It teaches you all of the basics you need to know before you actually do anything substantial.

 

- You need to actually know what the hell you're drawing. I mentioned before how I'm stuck in my style and as a result I'm not making conscious decisions about where things correctly go on the figure and instead I'm just focused on making the figure look like it was drawn by me. As a result, I get some weird crap. I have these sort of Jhonen Vasquez/Tim Burton proportions on my figure and all the muscles sort of bulge out because everyone I draw is basically anorexic, and now I have to start back from square one and relearn how to draw because my figures make no goddamn sense. Take time to look at the figure. Take time to study the figure. Don't rush through drawing it - actually care about where your lines are going. Get a bunch of sketchbooks and just fill them up with different parts of the figure. Draw your own hands and feet. Take your own reference photos and draw from that. Go sit in the park and do some life drawing so you know what different people look like. Go to this site: http://artists.pixelovely.com/practice-tools/figure-drawing// It's the best place to practice your figure drawing.

 

- Know a lot about a lot. Again, if you're serious about comics, then you need to know how to draw everything. You don't have the luxury of having a model, or having a still life, or even reference sometimes. If the script calls for a giant robotic shark falling from the sky shooting lightning from it's mouth at a lava golem/dinosaur hybrid over a destroyed Hawaiian village, you need to know how to just spit that out. Jake Parker, who's one of my favorite working comic artists, says you need to have a creative bank account. A creative bank account works just like a regular bank account. You can withdraw money from a bank account as long as you have money in it - once the money's gone, you can't take anything else out. Same with your creative bank account. You can "withdraw" all the creativity you want from it as long as you have creativity in it. So you have to study a lot of crap. Like robots? Study mechanics. Like animals? Study animals. Like nature? Study nature. Go to the library and flip through books about stuff you want to know more about. Heck, even Google. Everything you want is on the Internet, so just go looking for it.

 

- Learn perspective. Learn perspective. Learn perspective. If you can't draw in perspective then no one's going to read anything you make. Seriously. Learn perspective.

 

- I already mentioned the Internet, but I'll mention it again. Use the Internet. Get off of this site and use the Internet. So many artists are on tumblr and YouTube now - if you like an artist, then they're likely somewhere on here, and they'll likely be giving advice to people like you. Ryan Ottley, the man I aspire to be, is on tumblr and answers questions pretty frequently about how to get better at drawing and whatnot. There are podcasts, too. Paper Wings and Bancroft Brothers are both great art podcasts with great guests and they talk about everything you could ever hope to want to know. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE: Online classes! Skillshare and Imaginism are both amazing - I want to say Skillshare offers a free trial, but I don't know if that's true. Imaginism is great because it's working artists but it's also not that cheap. AND THERE'S EVEN MORE: I mentioned before, but YouTube. Go on YouTube. Get lost in the art side of YouTube. Jim Lee has a good chunk of tutorials, Jake Parker has a great channel where he films himself drawing and talks about art, CreatureBox (the designers for Ratchet and Clank) have a channel of their art, Skottie Young has some videos up, Harry Partridge has a whole set of tutorials thanks to HuHa2, and countless others. Utilize modern technology, because it's amazing.

 

- Don't know any of the people I just mentioned? Well, time for you to look at some comics. Comics are very icky and inbreedy. Everyone who draws comics copies off of everyone else who draws comics. Look at a bunch of different comics, find ones where you like the art, and then just kinda... steal some stuff. Austin Kleon has a book called Steal Like an Artist that I recommend (I recommend his TedTalk too, if you're into that). It's pretty inexpensive and it talks about how to correctly go about "stealing" from art. Flipping through a Justice League book and you see you like the way Jason Fabok draws legs? Maybe start thinking about how he draws legs and maybe see if you can use the way he draws legs to help you draw legs.

 

If you need any other advice just ask.

[SpongeyKid]

Pay $50,000 a year for art school.

 

Edit: Okay I should probably give you advice since I'm the only one here in art school. I'm not going to sum it up because if you're serious about art then you'll read all of this.

 

- Give up the idea of having a "style" for a while. That comes later. Focus on getting the fundamentals down exactly right before you move on to making the figure your own. I'm going through this right now, as a matter of fact - I didn't have any "real" figure drawing classes until this year (my third year at art school, and it's not even the one I originally attended - I had to transfer to get this education), and because of that I was already so deep into my own comfort zone/style that it's much harder for me to draw the figure correctly than it is for other people in the class. The way I draw evolved from a lack of knowing how to draw and just kind of making it up as I went along, and that's not good because I'm not thinking about where things go on the figure - I just think about keeping the figure in my style. I'm turning 21 soon, and I'm already wishing someone had told me the basic principles before I started drawing. So, here's what I suggest. There's this book, it's called Drawing the Head and Figure. It's a small little floppy book, about 100 or so pages. It's by this guy named Jack Hamm. Buy this goddamn book. It is, literally, you're one-stop shopping guide to how to draw anything concerning the human figure. Buy this. Burn every page into your brain. If you're looking to get into comics, then you're in luck because I'm going to school for that. There are a countless number of books on how to draw comics and they're all garbage. The one book you need is How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way. Again, much like the previous book I mentioned, it's a small floppy little book that will save your life. It teaches you all of the basics you need to know before you actually do anything substantial.

 

- You need to actually know what the hell you're drawing. I mentioned before how I'm stuck in my style and as a result I'm not making conscious decisions about where things correctly go on the figure and instead I'm just focused on making the figure look like it was drawn by me. As a result, I get some weird crap. I have these sort of Jhonen Vasquez/Tim Burton proportions on my figure and all the muscles sort of bulge out because everyone I draw is basically anorexic, and now I have to start back from square one and relearn how to draw because my figures make no goddamn sense. Take time to look at the figure. Take time to study the figure. Don't rush through drawing it - actually care about where your lines are going. Get a bunch of sketchbooks and just fill them up with different parts of the figure. Draw your own hands and feet. Take your own reference photos and draw from that. Go sit in the park and do some life drawing so you know what different people look like. Go to this site: http://artists.pixelovely.com/practice-tools/figure-drawing// It's the best place to practice your figure drawing.

 

- Know a lot about a lot. Again, if you're serious about comics, then you need to know how to draw everything. You don't have the luxury of having a model, or having a still life, or even reference sometimes. If the script calls for a giant robotic shark falling from the sky shooting lightning from it's mouth at a lava golem/dinosaur hybrid over a destroyed Hawaiian village, you need to know how to just spit that out. Jake Parker, who's one of my favorite working comic artists, says you need to have a creative bank account. A creative bank account works just like a regular bank account. You can withdraw money from a bank account as long as you have money in it - once the money's gone, you can't take anything else out. Same with your creative bank account. You can "withdraw" all the creativity you want from it as long as you have creativity in it. So you have to study a lot of crap. Like robots? Study mechanics. Like animals? Study animals. Like nature? Study nature. Go to the library and flip through books about stuff you want to know more about. Heck, even Google. Everything you want is on the Internet, so just go looking for it.

 

- Learn perspective. Learn perspective. Learn perspective. If you can't draw in perspective then no one's going to read anything you make. Seriously. Learn perspective.

 

- I already mentioned the Internet, but I'll mention it again. Use the Internet. Get off of this site and use the Internet. So many artists are on tumblr and YouTube now - if you like an artist, then they're likely somewhere on here, and they'll likely be giving advice to people like you. Ryan Ottley, the man I aspire to be, is on tumblr and answers questions pretty frequently about how to get better at drawing and whatnot. There are podcasts, too. Paper Wings and Bancroft Brothers are both great art podcasts with great guests and they talk about everything you could ever hope to want to know. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE: Online classes! Skillshare and Imaginism are both amazing - I want to say Skillshare offers a free trial, but I don't know if that's true. Imaginism is great because it's working artists but it's also not that cheap. AND THERE'S EVEN MORE: I mentioned before, but YouTube. Go on YouTube. Get lost in the art side of YouTube. Jim Lee has a good chunk of tutorials, Jake Parker has a great channel where he films himself drawing and talks about art, CreatureBox (the designers for Ratchet and Clank) have a channel of their art, Skottie Young has some videos up, Harry Partridge has a whole set of tutorials thanks to HuHa2, and countless others. Utilize modern technology, because it's amazing.

 

- Don't know any of the people I just mentioned? Well, time for you to look at some comics. Comics are very icky and inbreedy. Everyone who draws comics copies off of everyone else who draws comics. Look at a bunch of different comics, find ones where you like the art, and then just kinda... steal some stuff. Austin Kleon has a book called Steal Like an Artist that I recommend (I recommend his TedTalk too, if you're into that). It's pretty inexpensive and it talks about how to correctly go about "stealing" from art. Flipping through a Justice League book and you see you like the way Jason Fabok draws legs? Maybe start thinking about how he draws legs and maybe see if you can use the way he draws legs to help you draw legs.

 

If you need any other advice just ask.

This is great, thanks! (I hope you didn't go through too much trouble writing this though) And yes, I read all of it. I started to get more serious a couple weeks ago because It just hit me that I need to start drawing more if I wanna actually become great at it. In the past, I loved to draw but just never really thought about if my drawings were amazing, or if I could improve etc. I basically just drew, but not ALL the time.

 

So.... I feel like I have so many questions but don't know where to start   Ok, so, an important one that I have is, how can you tell if you're improving or not? I really wanna see some change in my artwork so I can know that I'm not just wasting my time drawing at the same crappy level. And another question related to this, how can you tell if your drawings in general are bad?

 

Also, I don't know what type of thing to draw..... I wish I could learn it all, but I probably can't. What I mean by this is, I like to draw cartoony things. Like cartoon characters, fanart about them etc. But then again, I also like to draw some anime eyes and more serious drawings. Or sometimes, I like to draw something that I see like a basket of fruits. Yeah, this is really hard to explain. Well, does it matter if I like to draw a little of everything or should I just stick to one thing? Another thing related to this, when I draw cartoon things, (not anime or realistic stuff) is it genuinely helping my art skills? Or is it a waste of time?

 

So, basically, should I just draw something different each time depending on the mood I'm in? Like one day, I'm feeling anime stuff. Another day, I'm feeling cartoony. Another day, I'm feeling like drawing my bed. I hope this isn't confusing.

 

Something I deeply struggle with. Character positions. I struggle to position a certain character sideways, backwards etc.  I only know how to make them facing forward, and I've tried experimenting with them but the final outcome looks off model and sloppy. Any advice on this? And any advice on creating your own character? Whether it's a cartoon character or anime character?

 

And about those books, where can I get them other than online? Barnes and Noble?

 

At the end of the day, I just want to be able to draw. Simple, just to be able to draw. So that I can impress not only myself, but other people as well. I have more questions that i'll ask later too. Anyways, thanks for the great advice/tips, really appreciate it

[Joe Biden]

Step 1: Draw the head

 

Step 2: Erase the detailed parts of the head

 

And that's how you make a circle.

 

[terminoob]

This is great, thanks! (I hope you didn't go through too much trouble writing this though) And yes, I read all of it. I started to get more serious a couple weeks ago because It just hit me that I need to start drawing more if I wanna actually become great at it. In the past, I loved to draw but just never really thought about if my drawings were amazing, or if I could improve etc. I basically just drew, but not ALL the time.

 

So.... I feel like I have so many questions but don't know where to start   Ok, so, an important one that I have is, how can you tell if you're improving or not? I really wanna see some change in my artwork so I can know that I'm not just wasting my time drawing at the same crappy level. And another question related to this, how can you tell if your drawings in general are bad?

 

Also, I don't know what type of thing to draw..... I wish I could learn it all, but I probably can't. What I mean by this is, I like to draw cartoony things. Like cartoon characters, fanart about them etc. But then again, I also like to draw some anime eyes and more serious drawings. Or sometimes, I like to draw something that I see like a basket of fruits. Yeah, this is really hard to explain. Well, does it matter if I like to draw a little of everything or should I just stick to one thing? Another thing related to this, when I draw cartoon things, (not anime or realistic stuff) is it genuinely helping my art skills? Or is it a waste of time?

 

So, basically, should I just draw something different each time depending on the mood I'm in? Like one day, I'm feeling anime stuff. Another day, I'm feeling cartoony. Another day, I'm feeling like drawing my bed. I hope this isn't confusing.

 

Something I deeply struggle with. Character positions. I struggle to position a certain character sideways, backwards etc.  I only know how to make them facing forward, and I've tried experimenting with them but the final outcome looks off model and sloppy. Any advice on this? And any advice on creating your own character? Whether it's a cartoon character or anime character?

 

And about those books, where can I get them other than online? Barnes and Noble?

 

At the end of the day, I just want to be able to draw. Simple, just to be able to draw. So that I can impress not only myself, but other people as well. I have more questions that i'll ask later too. Anyways, thanks for the great advice/tips, really appreciate it

 

Oh, no trouble at all. This is my life so I'm always glad to help out when someone needs it. You're going through some of the most common problems at the moment, but since you're actively seeking help you shouldn't worry too much about it because you're already ahead of the curve.

 

On improving: The great thing about visual art is that you can actually see the growth you make. Once you start hunkering down and paying attention to how (and what) you draw you're going to start noticing almost immediate improvement. Another way to gauge improvement is just looking at what you did last year to what you did this year (or last month to this month, or whatever quantity of time you choose). You're also going to have to start drawing. I know that sounds ridiculous, because you already are drawing, but I mean drawing. Every day drawing. Every professional artist ever is going to tell you to fill a sketchbook a month. Start doing that. Even compare the first drawing of the sketchbook to the last drawing. The last drawing will probably look better. Here's an example of two self-portraits I did a year apart:

https://i.imgur.com/5SGbhr6.jpg

 

https://i.imgur.com/m1XbHc5.jpg

 

Now, granted, I'm no longer happy with either of them (I don't think either of the noses look correct and the ears on the second one look ridiculous), but there's still improvement between the first and the second (however small). You also generally won't be able to tell if your drawing looks bad because to you that's the skill level you're at right in that moment so that's the best you've ever drawn so to you it won't look half bad. It's just mostly hindsight. However, if you have an idea of what you want your work to look like then you'll be able to go "okay, this doesn't look like what I want it to" - which is by no means an indication of you being a bad artist, but it's a good way to keep striving to be better. My goal is to just make my stuff not look like it was done by an art student, so that's what I strive for - I don't think I'm achieving that, but that's good because it makes me want to draw more and get better. I'm fine with the product in the moment, but I know I'm capable of going further. I don't know how old you are, but you shouldn't expect to be great right out of the gate - it takes time, so don't get frustrated. You're going to be your only critic for a while because your friends and family will probably support you and tell you your stuff is great (or they won't support you, and that's not an indication of you being bad that's just them being jerks).

On drawing: Learn the basics first. Think about Picasso. He didn't start out in his blue period. He started out drawing portraits. He moved into the style we know him best for because he knew why he was doing what he was doing, and he knew why because he knew how to draw realistically. I had a professor tell me "a rebel needs something to rebel against, otherwise they're just a fool", as well as "you need to know the rules in order to break them". Cartoons are grounded in reality - the Disney animators know how to do their job because they know how to draw. You don't need to be a master like Picasso, but you have to have some decent grasp of anatomy before you can begin to go all Chuck Jones on it. If you want to draw still life then draw a still life - no one is telling you what to or not to draw. Cartoonists don't only draw cartoons all day. They get out and go draw from life because, as my professor said, "you need to know the rules in order to break them". You want to draw an apple peeling and eating an orange? Cool, go ahead - you just better know how to draw an apple and you better know what an orange being peeled looks like. Wanna draw anime? Cool, go ahead - you just better study anatomy beforehand, because you better believe anime artists and mangaka know their anatomy inside and out. I already said it, but I'll say it again: know a lot about a lot. If you're serious about comics, you need to know how to draw everything. That's not an exaggeration. You need to know how to draw everything. Even if it doesn't exist, you need to know how to draw it. So the best way to know how to do this is to draw everything. Try to see if you can find life drawings online done by cartoonists - they're staggeringly beautiful. 

 

Ryan Ottley, again the man I aspire to be, used to be a portrait artist: http://ryanottley.tumblr.com/post/54351200501/ok-some-asked-to-see-more-portrait-work-i-use-to

 

He now does Invincible: http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs49/f/2009/199/4/6/Page_from_Invincible_64_by_WyA.jpg

So. Draw everything.

 

On cartoons: My major is Cartooning so it's hard for me to say what to do. On the one hand cartoons are fun to draw and it's something that not everyone knows how to do and people will like you because of it. On the other hand it's not gonna help you figure out real life anatomy. I started with cartoons and superheroes and I'm glad I did because now that's what I plan on doing for the rest of my life but I'm also struggling to get a good grasp on anatomy. I'll leave it up to you.

 

On posing: Tom Bancroft has this book called Creating Characters with Personality that you need to get. He's a former Disney animator (he was the lead animator for Mushu and... I think Cogsworth and Young Simba) and he knows what he's talking about. The book is all about getting the most out of your posing. Again, I'll reiterate How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way. There's a section on posing that'll teach you everything you need to know. Until you get ahold of those books, though, just practice. Take reference pictures if you need to and just draw yourself from different angles. Seriously, I can't stress practice enough. Art is all about practice.

On character: Tom Bancroft has this book called Creating Characters with Personality that you need to get. He also has another book called Character Mentor, which he did with a bunch of amateur artists (and professional ones too). He had people draw characters in different scenarios and he goes through and marks up what to fix to get the most character out of your character. Other than that, it's the creative bank account again. You just need to save a bunch of stuff that you can whip out at any time so you never get stuck on creating a character. I took a Design for Animators class last year at my previous school, and the way my professor taught character design was basically going from the inside out. You need to know the personality of the character before you know the look of the character, because the personality will dictate what it looks like. That's why characters with a slacker personality are long and lanky and sort of hunched and why bully characters are big and bulky and why underdog characters are short and non-threatening. Look at animated movies, because those really utilize character design. Comics from DC and Marvel are sort of... uninspired when it comes to design, so you're gonna have to study movies and cartoons to get a grasp of what "character design" means. If you want to look at comics to see what they're doing, then I'd suggest Image and Dark Horse. I think those two publishers are putting out comics with some cool designs. Hellboy (and the whole universe - BPRD, Abe Sapien, Sledgehammer 44, and now Frankenstein Underground), The Goon, Saga, Chew, and Invincible (these last three are really graphic though - I don't know how old you are so I'm hesitant to recommend them, but they're really great design-wise). For movies I'd say Wreck-It Ralph, Monster's Inc/Monster's University, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, Hotel Transylvania, How to Train Your Dragon 2, ParaNorman, and Treasure Planet. Don't copy these things but study them and try to see why they did what they did when they designed the characters and worlds.

 

The books should be available at Barnes and Noble. If not then definitely on Amazon. Drawing the Head and Figure should even be online as a PDF.

Ask any more questions you have. I'm stuck inside all day drawing, so I'm not going anywhere.

[MMM]

My advice is to listen to everyone above me cause they know what they're talking about more than I ever could

[Zaid]

Draw a circle for the eyes, and draw a line closer to the End.

[terminoob]

Draw a circle for the eyes, and draw a line closer to the End.

 

Yeah forget everything I said - this covers it.

[Space Cowboy]

Pretty much everything they said and don't become lazy. 

[SpongeyKid]

Oh, no trouble at all. This is my life so I'm always glad to help out when someone needs it. You're going through some of the most common problems at the moment, but since you're actively seeking help you shouldn't worry too much about it because you're already ahead of the curve.

 

On improving: The great thing about visual art is that you can actually see the growth you make. Once you start hunkering down and paying attention to how (and what) you draw you're going to start noticing almost immediate improvement. Another way to gauge improvement is just looking at what you did last year to what you did this year (or last month to this month, or whatever quantity of time you choose). You're also going to have to start drawing. I know that sounds ridiculous, because you already are drawing, but I mean drawing. Every day drawing. Every professional artist ever is going to tell you to fill a sketchbook a month. Start doing that. Even compare the first drawing of the sketchbook to the last drawing. The last drawing will probably look better. Here's an example of two self-portraits I did a year apart:

https://i.imgur.com/5SGbhr6.jpg

 

https://i.imgur.com/m1XbHc5.jpg

 

Now, granted, I'm no longer happy with either of them (I don't think either of the noses look correct and the ears on the second one look ridiculous), but there's still improvement between the first and the second (however small). You also generally won't be able to tell if your drawing looks bad because to you that's the skill level you're at right in that moment so that's the best you've ever drawn so to you it won't look half bad. It's just mostly hindsight. However, if you have an idea of what you want your work to look like then you'll be able to go "okay, this doesn't look like what I want it to" - which is by no means an indication of you being a bad artist, but it's a good way to keep striving to be better. My goal is to just make my stuff not look like it was done by an art student, so that's what I strive for - I don't think I'm achieving that, but that's good because it makes me want to draw more and get better. I'm fine with the product in the moment, but I know I'm capable of going further. I don't know how old you are, but you shouldn't expect to be great right out of the gate - it takes time, so don't get frustrated. You're going to be your only critic for a while because your friends and family will probably support you and tell you your stuff is great (or they won't support you, and that's not an indication of you being bad that's just them being jerks).

On drawing: Learn the basics first. Think about Picasso. He didn't start out in his blue period. He started out drawing portraits. He moved into the style we know him best for because he knew why he was doing what he was doing, and he knew why because he knew how to draw realistically. I had a professor tell me "a rebel needs something to rebel against, otherwise they're just a fool", as well as "you need to know the rules in order to break them". Cartoons are grounded in reality - the Disney animators know how to do their job because they know how to draw. You don't need to be a master like Picasso, but you have to have some decent grasp of anatomy before you can begin to go all Chuck Jones on it. If you want to draw still life then draw a still life - no one is telling you what to or not to draw. Cartoonists don't only draw cartoons all day. They get out and go draw from life because, as my professor said, "you need to know the rules in order to break them". You want to draw an apple peeling and eating an orange? Cool, go ahead - you just better know how to draw an apple and you better know what an orange being peeled looks like. Wanna draw anime? Cool, go ahead - you just better study anatomy beforehand, because you better believe anime artists and mangaka know their anatomy inside and out. I already said it, but I'll say it again: know a lot about a lot. If you're serious about comics, you need to know how to draw everything. That's not an exaggeration. You need to know how to draw everything. Even if it doesn't exist, you need to know how to draw it. So the best way to know how to do this is to draw everything. Try to see if you can find life drawings online done by cartoonists - they're staggeringly beautiful. 

 

Ryan Ottley, again the man I aspire to be, used to be a portrait artist: http://ryanottley.tumblr.com/post/54351200501/ok-some-asked-to-see-more-portrait-work-i-use-to

 

He now does Invincible: http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs49/f/2009/199/4/6/Page_from_Invincible_64_by_WyA.jpg

So. Draw everything.

 

On cartoons: My major is Cartooning so it's hard for me to say what to do. On the one hand cartoons are fun to draw and it's something that not everyone knows how to do and people will like you because of it. On the other hand it's not gonna help you figure out real life anatomy. I started with cartoons and superheroes and I'm glad I did because now that's what I plan on doing for the rest of my life but I'm also struggling to get a good grasp on anatomy. I'll leave it up to you.

 

On posing: Tom Bancroft has this book called Creating Characters with Personality that you need to get. He's a former Disney animator (he was the lead animator for Mushu and... I think Cogsworth and Young Simba) and he knows what he's talking about. The book is all about getting the most out of your posing. Again, I'll reiterate How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way. There's a section on posing that'll teach you everything you need to know. Until you get ahold of those books, though, just practice. Take reference pictures if you need to and just draw yourself from different angles. Seriously, I can't stress practice enough. Art is all about practice.

On character: Tom Bancroft has this book called Creating Characters with Personality that you need to get. He also has another book called Character Mentor, which he did with a bunch of amateur artists (and professional ones too). He had people draw characters in different scenarios and he goes through and marks up what to fix to get the most character out of your character. Other than that, it's the creative bank account again. You just need to save a bunch of stuff that you can whip out at any time so you never get stuck on creating a character. I took a Design for Animators class last year at my previous school, and the way my professor taught character design was basically going from the inside out. You need to know the personality of the character before you know the look of the character, because the personality will dictate what it looks like. That's why characters with a slacker personality are long and lanky and sort of hunched and why bully characters are big and bulky and why underdog characters are short and non-threatening. Look at animated movies, because those really utilize character design. Comics from DC and Marvel are sort of... uninspired when it comes to design, so you're gonna have to study movies and cartoons to get a grasp of what "character design" means. If you want to look at comics to see what they're doing, then I'd suggest Image and Dark Horse. I think those two publishers are putting out comics with some cool designs. Hellboy (and the whole universe - BPRD, Abe Sapien, Sledgehammer 44, and now Frankenstein Underground), The Goon, Saga, Chew, and Invincible (these last three are really graphic though - I don't know how old you are so I'm hesitant to recommend them, but they're really great design-wise). For movies I'd say Wreck-It Ralph, Monster's Inc/Monster's University, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, Hotel Transylvania, How to Train Your Dragon 2, ParaNorman, and Treasure Planet. Don't copy these things but study them and try to see why they did what they did when they designed the characters and worlds.

 

The books should be available at Barnes and Noble. If not then definitely on Amazon. Drawing the Head and Figure should even be online as a PDF.

Ask any more questions you have. I'm stuck inside all day drawing, so I'm not going anywhere.

I'm 14

 

So, I do draw everyday (And I'm glad I finally got into the habit of doing so) But how much do you think I should draw a day? In total, I draw from about 30 minutes to an hour a day. I hope that's not a little bit, but if you think I should draw more than that, I think I could definitely push myself to do so. And a sketchbook a month? Again, I think I could push myself to do that, but it could be a challenge. Also, both of those portraits are pretty well drawn imo 

 

I have a question about comics and all of that stuff. Are the final products hand drawn, or does some of it have to do with computer art programs? I think this because I see some comics and just drawings in general and I think "there's no way all of that could be hand draw without some sort of art program on the computer". Like this artwork I found on deviantart for example:

 

http://imgur.com/p9VL20H

 

What type of materials do you use for those types of things? Is it unprofessional to use CRAYOLA markers and crayons...... Because that's how I give my artwork color.... 

 

 

Practice, practice, practice! Yeah, I'm definitely in need of A LOT of practice overall.

 

And before I end this post, a general question, what should I do now? How should I start using the advice you gave me? Should I try and get the books first, or should I start filling in sketchbooks, should I learn more basic materials or? I just wanna know what I should do now.

 

Thanks again for taking time to help me!

[terminoob]

I'm 14

 

So, I do draw everyday (And I'm glad I finally got into the habit of doing so) But how much do you think I should draw a day? In total, I draw from about 30 minutes to an hour a day. I hope that's not a little bit, but if you think I should draw more than that, I think I could definitely push myself to do so. And a sketchbook a month? Again, I think I could push myself to do that, but it could be a challenge. Also, both of those portraits are pretty well drawn imo 

 

I have a question about comics and all of that stuff. Are the final products hand drawn, or does some of it have to do with computer art programs? I think this because I see some comics and just drawings in general and I think "there's no way all of that could be hand draw without some sort of art program on the computer". Like this artwork I found on deviantart for example:

 

http://imgur.com/p9VL20H

 

What type of materials do you use for those types of things? Is it unprofessional to use CRAYOLA markers and crayons...... Because that's how I give my artwork color.... 

 

 

Practice, practice, practice! Yeah, I'm definitely in need of A LOT of practice overall.

 

And before I end this post, a general question, what should I do now? How should I start using the advice you gave me? Should I try and get the books first, or should I start filling in sketchbooks, should I learn more basic materials or? I just wanna know what I should do now.

 

Thanks again for taking time to help me!

 

Okay, yeah, when I was 14 I had no idea how to draw or how to go about learning how to draw or anything. I knew I wanted to draw, but I wasn't good at it. Good on you for taking the initiative for wanting to get better at it.

An hour sketching is fine, depending on how much you actually draw in that hour. Again, I'm going to reference Jake Parker because he's super smart: his philosophy is three drawings (or sketches, I guess) in an hour. That seems easy, but as of now you don't have much of a creative bank account (again, referencing Jake Parker on that - I seriously suggest his YouTube channel) so the drawings you do will no doubt be more simplistic and less adventurous/complicated just because you don't have the stuff in your brain to think of it. Creativity is a muscle that you have to work out just like your biceps or abs, so you have to get on a regimen that you think would show the best results. It's a lot better to run for an hour than it is for thirty minutes, but thirty minutes is a helluva lot better than fifteen. I'd suggest sticking to no less than thirty minutes a day, with the goal of going for an hour or more. This is still a hobby for you, so don't stress out about it too much if there are days where you can't draw. You're only 14 and you're not getting paid for this - you've got plenty of time to practice. Same with the sketchbook a month - you're just starting to get serious, so don't worry about it too much. Give yourself some leeway when it comes to that, but definitely have the goal in mind to get to the point where completing a sketchbook a month isn't an insane task. It's about drawing and wanting to draw and getting better, but it's also about discipline. I have a friend in Illustration who has way more discipline than I do when it comes to big pieces but I can fill a sketchbook in a week and she can't even fill a sketchbook a month.

 

You can use whatever medium. Mainstream comics nowadays are either a mix of traditional and digital or all digital (I believe mangaka are totally traditional because they publish in black and white, and alt comics artists [like Robert Crumb and Gary Panter] are usually all traditional because they publish in black and white too, or if they do color then they color by hand). Coloring for Marvel and DC is all done digitally just because it's easier (Esad Ribic hand paints stuff to sell but I don't think he hand paints his pages - I could be wrong though, because his God of Thunder stuff had a really crisp acrylic look). I personally draw and ink by hand just because it feels wrong to do it digitally, but that's just a personal preference - I like the feel of art supplies in my hands and I love getting ink under my fingernails and graphite on my wrist. Photoshop is definitely widely used in everything now and that's almost certainly what the illustration you linked to was done in (it may have been drawn by hand and then scanned in, but that's definitely digital coloring). Denis Zilber is an artist that does work similar to what you posted and he does it totally digitally - I'd check him out too.

 

Definitely get rid of the Crayola. it's not doing you any favors. If you want to hand color your stuff (which I honestly don't suggest but that's just me - I hate coloring) then go for PrismaColors. They're the baseline for quality markers. Copics are super nice but also super expensive and I wouldn't recommend them to you because you're only 14. Wait a little bit before you dive into those. Prismas aren't exactly cheap either but they're a better price than Copics.

 

What you do now is up to you, I guess. I'd suggest checking out some of the stuff I recommended to you before you start - definitely watch all of Jake Parker's videos that have audio, and watch them from beginning to end. He gives amazing advice. Check out the Jack Hamm book I recommended too, and start studying it. Filling your sketchbook is going to be practice and how you learn the basics, so get a sketchbook and start drawing. Ask your art teacher for advice too - they'll probably have a good idea of how to steer you in the right direction. Again, though, you're only 14 - don't stress too much. I didn't start actually learning how to draw until I was, like, 17, and then I didn't get any real guidance until now (my third year of art school).

[MMM]

Study all the art you want, but never copy.

[terminoob]

Study all the art you want, but never copy.

 

Wrong, actually. Copy with intent. Understand why the artist is making the lines they're making. Don't blatantly copy designs or style (meaning don't pass it off as your own and stuff like that), but understanding design and style is extremely useful and the only way you can do that is if you, well, copy it. Besides, if you want to work in animation or comics, you're going to be copying a lot unless you're making your own show/comic - because odds are you didn't create Batman or Spongebob.

[MMM]

Wrong, actually. Copy with intent. Understand why the artist is making the lines they're making. Don't blatantly copy designs or style (meaning don't pass it off as your own and stuff like that), but understanding design and style is extremely useful and the only way you can do that is if you, well, copy it. Besides, if you want to work in animation or comics, you're going to be copying a lot unless you're making your own show/comic - because odds are you didn't create Batman or Spongebob.

That's pretty much what I going for, but it goes to prove I don't know what i'm talking about, I guess

[SpongeyKid]

Okay, yeah, when I was 14 I had no idea how to draw or how to go about learning how to draw or anything. I knew I wanted to draw, but I wasn't good at it. Good on you for taking the initiative for wanting to get better at it.

An hour sketching is fine, depending on how much you actually draw in that hour. Again, I'm going to reference Jake Parker because he's super smart: his philosophy is three drawings (or sketches, I guess) in an hour. That seems easy, but as of now you don't have much of a creative bank account (again, referencing Jake Parker on that - I seriously suggest his YouTube channel) so the drawings you do will no doubt be more simplistic and less adventurous/complicated just because you don't have the stuff in your brain to think of it. Creativity is a muscle that you have to work out just like your biceps or abs, so you have to get on a regimen that you think would show the best results. It's a lot better to run for an hour than it is for thirty minutes, but thirty minutes is a helluva lot better than fifteen. I'd suggest sticking to no less than thirty minutes a day, with the goal of going for an hour or more. This is still a hobby for you, so don't stress out about it too much if there are days where you can't draw. You're only 14 and you're not getting paid for this - you've got plenty of time to practice. Same with the sketchbook a month - you're just starting to get serious, so don't worry about it too much. Give yourself some leeway when it comes to that, but definitely have the goal in mind to get to the point where completing a sketchbook a month isn't an insane task. It's about drawing and wanting to draw and getting better, but it's also about discipline. I have a friend in Illustration who has way more discipline than I do when it comes to big pieces but I can fill a sketchbook in a week and she can't even fill a sketchbook a month.

 

You can use whatever medium. Mainstream comics nowadays are either a mix of traditional and digital or all digital (I believe mangaka are totally traditional because they publish in black and white, and alt comics artists [like Robert Crumb and Gary Panter] are usually all traditional because they publish in black and white too, or if they do color then they color by hand). Coloring for Marvel and DC is all done digitally just because it's easier (Esad Ribic hand paints stuff to sell but I don't think he hand paints his pages - I could be wrong though, because his God of Thunder stuff had a really crisp acrylic look). I personally draw and ink by hand just because it feels wrong to do it digitally, but that's just a personal preference - I like the feel of art supplies in my hands and I love getting ink under my fingernails and graphite on my wrist. Photoshop is definitely widely used in everything now and that's almost certainly what the illustration you linked to was done in (it may have been drawn by hand and then scanned in, but that's definitely digital coloring). Denis Zilber is an artist that does work similar to what you posted and he does it totally digitally - I'd check him out too.

 

Definitely get rid of the Crayola. it's not doing you any favors. If you want to hand color your stuff (which I honestly don't suggest but that's just me - I hate coloring) then go for PrismaColors. They're the baseline for quality markers. Copics are super nice but also super expensive and I wouldn't recommend them to you because you're only 14. Wait a little bit before you dive into those. Prismas aren't exactly cheap either but they're a better price than Copics.

 

What you do now is up to you, I guess. I'd suggest checking out some of the stuff I recommended to you before you start - definitely watch all of Jake Parker's videos that have audio, and watch them from beginning to end. He gives amazing advice. Check out the Jack Hamm book I recommended too, and start studying it. Filling your sketchbook is going to be practice and how you learn the basics, so get a sketchbook and start drawing. Ask your art teacher for advice too - they'll probably have a good idea of how to steer you in the right direction. Again, though, you're only 14 - don't stress too much. I didn't start actually learning how to draw until I was, like, 17, and then I didn't get any real guidance until now (my third year of art school).

I can't wait to practice more! I've already started a bit yesterday in my sketchbook. I'm definitely gonna check out the people you recommended as well

 

And I also posted something just now: http://www.thesbcommunity.com/forums/index.php?/topic/11631-garnet-tries-a-krabby-patty/

 

It's something that I drew a few weeks ago, and it came out OK in my book. Anyways, thanks again, and I'll let you know if I have more questions and stuff later on 

[Cha]

Draw what you see, not what you think you see when it comes to being able to staple down how a character looks. I've had that problem so many times, even though practicing drawing of course the most important thing. Study motion and how characters look when they're running and etc. Go through the episodes (if you're drawing a cartoon character) and find scenes we're they're showing a lot of emotion. Like others probably said, get some books about the shapes of characters. Especially if you're trying to draw humans. I usually I draw for hours upon hours a day, I fill a sketchbook in a month or less. (I think the last one I filled in two weeks?)  Like a sport or anything you have to grow accustomed to whatever it is you're doing. It's like running a mile before excerising, warming up (at least for me) makes me able to have more energy the rest of the period of drawing time. Terminoob is the best of anyone here when it comes to this advice though.

[SpongeyKid]

Draw what you see, not what you think you see when it comes to being able to staple down how a character looks. I've had that problem so many times, even though practicing drawing of course the most important thing. Study motion and how characters look when they're running and etc. Go through the episodes (if you're drawing a cartoon character) and find scenes we're they're showing a lot of emotion. Like others probably said, get some books about the shapes of characters. Especially if you're trying to draw humans. I usually I draw for hours upon hours a day, I fill a sketchbook in a month or less. (I think the last one I filled in two weeks?)  Like a sport or anything you have to grow accustomed to whatever it is you're doing. It's like running a mile before excerising, warming up (at least for me) makes me able to have more energy the rest of the period of drawing time. Terminoob is the best of anyone here when it comes to this advice though.

Thanks for the advice! I wish I was able to draw for hours  It just gets tiring for me after a while.

 

 

And out of curiosity, what do you yourself draw? 

[4EverGreen]

Personally, I draw whatever interests me. Birds, maps, landscapes, certain cartoon characters. The best way to find out what you like to draw, is to anything that strikes you as interesting!  Be creative in your approach, and don't worry so much about being perfect! Rome wasn't built in a day, and Leonardo Da Vinci didn't become famous over-night! Becoming a famous artist, or even a good one, takes a lot of practice, and a lot of work. But if art is something you are passoniate about, than it is all worth it!

[Young Nug]

Wrong, actually. Copy with intent. Understand why the artist is making the lines they're making. Don't blatantly copy designs or style (meaning don't pass it off as your own and stuff like that), but understanding design and style is extremely useful and the only way you can do that is if you, well, copy it. Besides, if you want to work in animation or comics, you're going to be copying a lot unless you're making your own show/comic - because odds are you didn't create Batman or Spongebob.

I cannot explain how instrumental this is. I'm not a phenomenal artist by any means, but I consider myself pretty alright, and I only got to my level by copying at the start. Tracing seems really elementary, but using it solely as a learning tool does wonders. Tracing not just to trace, but tracing purposely - learning the lines of a character and all the small details - it helps so much. Not only because you nail down intricate details and learn how to make a character look like how they look, but so much crosses over between shows and styles, even in just western animation. Once you discover ways to draw something and add that to your repertiore, you find that things pop up a lot later on.

 

"Whoa, all the characters in Gravity Falls have the same eyes as the characters in The Simpsons!"

"Wow, all the hands in Adventure Time look exactly like the hands in Regular Show and Sanjay and Craig!"

"Oh my gosh, Buzz Lightyear and Larry the Lobster have the same base form from the waist up!"

 

Once you've added something to your....Creative Bank Account, as Terminoob would say, you'll see it pop up again, and it's not even just with definite formed things. You'll notice that a lot of art at it's core is just basic shapes. Really understanding squares and triangles makes drawing a house that much easier, because you understand how those shapes make up a whole. That definitely helps in the ongoing conquest to be able to draw...Well, theoretically everything. Going in knowing that lots of things are just base shapes: rectangles, squares, circles, breaks up a lot of things that may seem daunting at first to draw. But getting a lot of experience in different forms of art is great, because being able to draw "anything" is an almost necessary talent in the industry. The creators of Avatar started out directing episodes of Family Guy. Brad Bird, the dude that just directed Mission Impossible, started out doing simple cartoon takes on The Simpsons. There's a reason Ian Graham was a storyboard artist on the cartooniest seasons of SpongeBob and also one of Korra's most prolific directors. Diversity is important. It's literally essential if you want to work on more than one show/comic (or more than one type of show/comic might I add)  in the animation/comic industry. I feel like a lot of that was what terminoob already said but termi dont beat me up plz