The issue of leaning left: Tips and Tricks?

[AshenhartKrie]

I have this horrible habit of always drawing my sprites leaning a little to the left - even when I use guides. It's not noticeable until I flip it of course, but it still looks horribly awkward. So to fix that... I don't draw sprites \o/
But I want to get better at posing, because just drawing portraits gets tedious. So, any hints someone could give me?
For example - I'm working on a new style with my OC... but something just doesn't look right and I'm finding it really hard to fix.

(My actual style usually has lines, I just wanted to practise painting a bit.)
(also - I did read the guide for this thread and I'm like, 98% sure this fits here, but if not please let me know!)

[Juno]

My only tip is to literally flip as much as possible. I programmed my Wacom with a horizontal flip button for both Sai and Photoshop and use that button just as much as the zoom feature.

Just flip every few minutes or earlier especially in the sketch phase. I flip constantly. Especially when starting and working on different parts of the body.

[SinnyROM]

What helps me is flipping the canvas constantly so that I know immediately if my drawing is off. Some programs have a temporary flip command; Paint Tool Sai has the keyboard shortcut H that does this. It can be tedious especially if your program doesn't have this feature, but to me it's worth the extra effort.

Also, if you can, find a photograph of a person in a similar pose and do your best to imitate it. If you're still struggling, overlay the photo over your drawing so you can see your mistakes clearer.

[LateWhiteRabbit]

All artists' work naturally tilts or leans one direction depending on what hand they draw with. That's why if working on traditional paper (or digital) it is important to keep rotating the paper as you draw (and not rigidly draw with the paper always oriented the same way in front of you), and keep checking the reverse of the drawing by flipping it (if using software) or using a lightbox or bright window if drawing traditionally.

It is important to remember that experienced artists also do NOT just start with the finished drawing. The final drawing you see if the result of 3 or 4 drawings that started loose to get things like proportions, poses, etc. right, and gradually got tighter with each pass, until they draw the final drawing on top.

[sendo]

Aside from regularly flipping the image, you can also draw a straight line that divide the character into half and make it straight. Kinda hard to explain in text so please see the attached file, click to enlarge. Obviously this only works with front view images, so make flipping the image a habit.

EDIT: clarification on the Photoshop method. In step 2, draw the ruler on the character layer, not on the guideline layer, so that it rotates the character, not the guideline.

[wendybirdx]

I usually do what sendo does from the start. (I have that problem myself )

I had to practice in my sketchbook a bit with balancing out the body, making it symmetrical. I personally went back to the Loomis books and the proportion guides and just drew the figure facing forward and in profile, making sure to draw that middle line and make all my underlying forms (the circle for the head, the oval for the rib cage) symmetrical before working on them.

I also tried to copy a few natural standing poses, since someone standing naturally wouldn't be in that stiff pose. Just seeing how much the hips lean, how the forms relate to a middle line and how much they tilt from person to person. That might be a cool study for you, too! (:

[SundownKid]

You can also just skew the image in Photoshop after you draw it to make sure that it's not leaning sideways. If you draw digitally it should be even easier to make sure it's straight after you draw the general body.

But I agree with what was said above - even if it's not lineart you should make some sketch layers underneath to make sure the proportions are down.

[AshenhartKrie]

Thanks everyone!
I do a lot of that already - profiles are a lot easier to get right than full bodies, so that's something to practise.