i'm sometimes drawing my own characters, but still i can't get them right i want my drawing style to be more smooth, i observed other people drawing, i tried to draw something myself, i looked at other people's work and try to copy their drawing style, but every single time i fail and i just can't improve usually i make lineart, pencils are my best friends, however sometimes i use shadowing or colouring, but the effect turns out to be terrible anyone had the same problem? or is it just the lack of progress possibility? anyone, help
Yeah, it's mostly lack of experience. I am also still in my "Finding my own style" phase. I currently don't like my style... My changes are pretty obvious: Spoiler: Pictures of Mine from Deviantart My coloring and shading sucks... looking more and more 3D-ish Watching tutorials of others drawing and such do give insights and stuff though XD
eh, i see this is my work that i'm the most proud of, though it's lacking something and eh, i'm so frustrated ;n; Spoiler: work EDIT sorry for those feet EDIT 2 sorry for the quality too
not really :v and i can't do anything good in digital, i tried sooo hard, but still i can do only lineart and add colouring a little bit but shades? more 3D-ish? nooo way i'll do it right :v
Lol, mine became 3D-ish because I couldn't figure out where to shade right........ so I just shaded and did everything!
I think you could improve if you practiced gesture and anatomy some more. Anatomy: In your first and second pics, the chest is too small in comparison to the head. Generally speaking, the nipples should be located one head's length below the chin. In the second and last pics, the ears are a bit too small/flat; they should align with the top of the eyes and the bottom of the nose. Your noses are really good, and the rest of the face is pretty proportional. Your third pic is close to perfect from what I can tell, so you seem to be good at drawing from reference. Use lots of references at all times and you'll probably see your quality soar. Speaking of which, I recommend downloading DesignDoll. It is amazing. And free. Gesture is really important to give your pictures life. Instead of having your characters stand in a neutral, stiff position, make your lines more relaxed. Pay less attention to details and more to how nice the lines look when you arrange them in certain ways on the page. Examples from my old stuff: Spoiler: Character Redo Notice the movement of the clothes and hair, the curves and variety of lines rather than making them all straight-ish, and the consideration of 3D space, with the lollipop put in perspective. Spoiler: Figure Drawing Redo In the first drawing, I was focused on getting all the little details. In the second drawing, I was looking at the big picture. I emphasized the curves of the pose, and took note of which side was relaxing (left) and which was supporting her weight (right). This adds contrast and energy to the body and provokes interest. Hope that helps!
To amass experiences, do a lot of sketching, by a lot I mean more than 1.000 per 6 month or so. Pick a theme per 100, and go around your place to sketch, don't stay cooped up inside the house. An example for theme could be "market place", "architecture", "forest", "crowds" etc. Use inks not pencil and try to draw based on gestures and broad shape rather than minute details, if you used pencils more often you will find yourself not confident and focusing on details. Aside from amassing experience, the purpose of this practice is to increase the visual library in your mind. For figure drawing you can do gesture drawing, that is drawing gestures from people posing for you on a limited time per pose (ranged from 15 seconds to 60 seconds according to your capability). If you can't get live models, you can use online services that provides gesture drawing practices. Do it consistently everyday and you'll improve faster. Don't forget while doing above, also read art teaching books and practice them. Those books will help you with additional knowledges that you might miss from personal observation (actually given a lot of time you will probably arrived at the same conclusion with what the book teaches, but you can learn it faster with the books). Well this is the practices taught in my art school, and I think I improved a lot with it. The result is dependant on your own discipline though. Additional comment, when you're feeling everything is too easy it's instead a dangerous phase since that means you're not growing anymore. If you feel it's difficult like now, then that means you're currently learning something. Don't worry, everyone also experienced it.
Cryarc said pretty much everything you should know about how to build your own style. It's actually suspicious of myself to add anything here since i get stuck sometimes but, you should also look for a goal to achieve, it helps you focus a bit to know what you expect yours drawings to be in the future.