First post here. Tell me what I should focus on improving?

[ZareonianWolf]

Hey there guys! This is my first ever post here on CA. I used to be heavily influenced by the dreaded anime style, and since I've grown up a bit I've been trying hard to break out of that mold and get more realistic drawings done. So below I've included a few of my more recent, higher-quality images. If you see something that needs serious work, please be brutal. I want to improve.

And sorry for the massive load! The FAQ said to keep a lot of images to one post, heh.
















(Sorry for the horrible photo on this one; It was done for a Drawing 1 class and my camera is crappy.) Here's the reference I used: Click!

Attachment 1023871

[Giacomo]

Nice stuff! The purple girl with wings is trés sexay.

If you want to work more "realistically," though, you might want to consider working more from observation. The James Marsden portrait shows that you have a very good eye, but right now your other work still uses all the shortcuts and stylizations of furry/anime art (e.g., sloppy foreshortening, cut-and-paste faces, standardized poses, and the dreaded "transparent bangs.") The only way I know of to get past that is to get in the habit of slowing down and thinking out the drawings more.

Just my two cents.

[LostFayth]

First of all, the watermark...yuk...just put a little link in either of the lower corners with your link. It looks way better and doesn't kill the image. If you're scared of someone ripping off your image, get off deviant art. It's that I have something against you or deviant art, but that's a community based on ass patting, so I'm really glad to see you here

That said, I can still see the anime influence in your pieces. I started out drawing anime as well, so I can absolutely relate to your pieces.

Your lines are solid and you have idea's about anatomy. I can clearly see you know where the muscles are and what they do. I do wonder if this is because you have studied anatomy or just learned the "anime anatomy". I used to copy some lines in the body I saw anime artist use to show some muscles and body parts and I never understood why they where there until I started studying anatomy.

You do still use the "eyes over hair"-thing they do a lot on deviantart You know how it should be right?

Your final piece is your best. It has something to do with drawing realistic-ly, not naturalistic. If you draw realistic you lit your subject matter in the right way, you apply the properties of light and something looks as it has form. I miss something like that in your stylized pieces. The final piece has the most believable light and everything has form.

What Giacomo says is true. You have a great eye. Do some more studies from life, study anatomy, study light and forget about those shortcuts for a while. I'm willing to bet you learnt those shortcuts by copying them from other artists, not creating them self. Creating a shortcut is okay, only when you create it yourself or when you understand what it is that's making shorter.

[ZareonianWolf]

Thanks to you both!

I see what you mean about transparent bangs! (In all honesty I've just been doing it so long that I didn't realize I was still doing it, haha!) I will have to cut that crap out, yes.

Also, LostFayth, my stuff's been stolen plenty of times and corner signatures and links are always easily cropped out. I'm a bit paranoid, heh. And the anatomy mostly comes from two years of Anatomy and Physiology (I'm in a Dental program in college and they were pre-reqs that seemed to really help me out!).

I totally get what both of you mean about still clinging a bit to the simplified style that anime first taught me. and I know I have major issues with relying too heavily on line and not enough on form, it's something I'm hoping to improve upon!

Life studies are definitely in my future, and when I finally get some done I will definitely post them up here for feedback! Maybe I'll try to find out if they offer any life drawing classes in my area, I hear those work wonders, too.

[LostFayth]

Life drawing classes are great, that's true. But if you want to draw figures, you don't have to wait for someone to teach you in a figure drawing class. Buy a mirror. Draw your own body (parts), do self portraits.

But it doesn't end there, draw still lifes, drapery and what not. Everything you see, is something you can draw. You have a good eye, so you'll be able to put down the shapes rather well, after that it's on to putting the form there. A line defines the edge of a shape/form. So there is nothing bad with the line itself, but it's important to understand what's happening between the lines. One thing is important when doing studies, draw from what you see not what you know. That way you'll build upon the knowledge you have and you'll start to rely on that

also, if you want keep posting you work here, create a sketchbook. Here you can post your studies and other stuff as a journal type of gallery. People who drop by can leave comments and replies. It's a good way to keep track of each other