new to art

[newfieGirly]

I live in a small town and we didn't have art class in our high school. So I really don't know much about how to do things. Im trying to learn because I really love art especially computer generated images and digital painting. I have been reading and practicing but omg do I have a lot to learn. Would love some suggestions and critique. I know Im far from great right now but I really desperately want to learn and Deviant art really dosnt help. People just say nice. or it sucks. I want to improve. Could I please ask for assistance?

right now I am trying to draw entirely in black and white since I apparently don't know light sourcing yet. I figure if I am going to learn how to colour I need to learn that first.

I draw anatomy and try and sketch everyday but i don't have a scanner so all of my pics here had to be drawn and coloured digitally for me to show you. I know Im rough perhaps there are some books I could read? and issues I could focus on.

OH! and if anyone knows a good book of studying hands! I hate them and suck at them so I avoid drawing them. Please let me know.

[keeptime]

I don't have too much in the way of technical critique (also still a major newb), but one thing that immediately struck me is all your girls have the innocent doe-eyed look to them with a slightly open mouth. There's so many better expressions you could be using. The doe-eyed look just makes them seem vacant and lifeless.

Also, take a little bit more care when you're colouring. Often the colouring goes outside of the lines or doesn't hit them at all. I could understand if it was just one or two drawings, but it's in every single one of them minus the girl with glasses. It's making your work look a bit sloppy.

Edit: What's the girl in yellow doing holding a chunk of pink hair? Did she cut it off? Where did it come from? Why is she having no reaction whatsoever to it?

[keeptime]

Oh no, I've been bitten by the double post bug! I thought I was immune to it

[arenhaus]

You get the usual advice in such cases: don't try to imitate the style, imitate the method. Anime style is deceptively simple; there is a lot of underlying work that you do not see in the finished product. You need to learn how to do that underlying work.

Which is the same as in any other drawing: composition, structure, perspective, anatomy and lighting.

Get a textbook on drawing (e.g. Loomis) and start drawing cubes. It's more boring than drawing anime girls, but without knowing how to draw cubes you can't draw girls well.

[arenhaus]

You get the usual advice in such cases: don't try to imitate the style, imitate the method. Anime style is deceptively simple; there is a lot of underlying work that you do not see in the finished product. You need to learn how to do that underlying work.

Which is the same as in any other drawing: composition, structure, perspective, anatomy and lighting.

Get a textbook on drawing (e.g. Loomis) and start drawing cubes. It's more boring than drawing anime girls, but without knowing how to draw cubes you can't draw girls well.

[FightingSeraph]

I concur with what Arenhaus said, but would also add that you ought to study other styles, various other 3D shapes, etc.

[Lulie]

You ask for a book on studying hands. Loomis goes into it some, or for a free tutorial online there's this one, and no doubt more if you look. Best tip: look through the principles in that tutorial, then practice a bunch by drawing your own hand (can use mirror to get difficult angles). It looks like you avoid even trying to draw them, but with reference it's not so hard! They might look wonky at first, but it beats making it up from the vague symbols in your mind.

It looks like most of your drawings here were done from imagination, without using any reference. Using reference (and doing studies) helps feed your imagination -- when you learn what stuff is like in real life, that goes into your mental bank of stuff you can draw convincingly. Manga style is an abstraction of reality. So, if you want to make your own style instead of copying existing styles, learning to draw realistically will mean you can make your own abstractions -- which parts are important and which you can change, and add hints of reality to make it feel really believable despite being stylised.

As for books to read, the one most often recommended here is Loomis' Figure Drawing for All It's Worth.
Good grounding in figure drawing, human proportions and so on. I could recommend lots of others, but it depends what you're interested in drawing and how well you get on with that. Try Proko's videos to get a sense of it -- they use Loomis' principles and head construction method, and show what this looks like in real life so they're really helpful for building up that 3D mental model. Also, given you're starting from manga style, you might like this series of tutorials Manga to Realistic -- again, a lot of that series is based on Loomis, but free so you can get started right away.

Lastly, borrow someone's digital camera if you can't get a scanner (scanners can be super cheap on eBay, by the way, especially if you get an older one) and start a thread in the Sketchbook subforum so we can continue to help you with your progress.

[Velocity Kendall]

i agree with all the above. you can draw well already, now try drawing lots of different things to feed your imagination as Lulie says.
look how much fun you could be having with expressions!

[Psychotime]

I don't wanna derail the thread, but Kendall, can you tell me who made that second thing you posted?

EDIT: Ah, William Bradford. Ok.