Critique sketches?

[we0w]

I'm making a graphic novel for the first time, and I want my characters to look just right.
I'm kind of really bad at anatomy and I'm still working on imagining forms of the human body and what-not.
I'd love it if someone would give me advice/critique/etc ~
This is my first finished sketch of Dakota:

*updated and shrunk down*

The heads always look really large; I usually try to shrink them but I always get a yaoi-syndrome-feeling when I do that...

[MaiMai]

I don't think the head is too big, but rather the arms are too small. There are some basic rules for basic anatomy that I think you should look into in regards to constructing the body before adding details. This website I found on Google is pretty thorough and it might help you start thinking about how to approach drawing bodies differently.

http://design.tutsplus.com/articles/hum ... ctor-18254

[we0w]

I don't think the head is too big, but rather the arms are too small. There are some basic rules for basic anatomy that I think you should look into in regards to constructing the body before adding details. This website I found on Google is pretty thorough and it might help you start thinking about how to approach drawing bodies differently.

http://design.tutsplus.com/articles/hum ... ctor-18254

Updated~
Thanks for the help! I never thought the shoulders were too small; it kinda seems obvious now haha

[Didules]

Hello!
I wonder if you would be okay with people redlining your sketch, just to show a few things they would change?
Oh, and also:

I'm still working on imagining forms of the human body and what-not.

You may find this website useful: http://www.posemaniacs.com/ Proportions are realistic, if you go for a manga-style I'd suggest you tweak a few things (size of the head, ...), however it might help you to better *see* the human body

[we0w]

Hello!
I wonder if you would be okay with people redlining your sketch, just to show a few things they would change?
Oh, and also:

I'm still working on imagining forms of the human body and what-not.

You may find this website useful: http://www.posemaniacs.com/ Proportions are realistic, if you go for a manga-style I'd suggest you tweak a few things (size of the head, ...), however it might help you to better *see* the human body

I'd be totally okay with that; it's nice to see others' perspectives. ~
That website looks, really great! I bookmarked it in my art-folder-thing. Thanks :3

[svarn]

Hello

I made a little sketch for you. I don't want to go into proportions of things, because it's very stylised, so it's impossible to say that something is "wrong".
So in terms of advice that I can give you, try to think of shapes more in 3d (your head is nice, but body looks very flat), when drawing out pose it's good to counter shoulder angle to hips angle to avoid character looking stiff. And lastly look up some anatomy books if you have time to do so.

I hope that this helps and good luck with you novel!
(had to resize picture a little for lemma)

[Didules]

Wow, after what Svarn said I feel like my picture sooooo isn't needed at all X'D

So just 2 things to note: 1/ This may not be the style you want to have/develop 2/I'm still in the early process of learning how male anatomy actually works (y no boobs??? щ(ºДºщ))
So this is what I did in what I call a "random anime style"

I hope at least one of the thing said will be useful X'D

Have a good day!

[we0w]

Hello

I made a little sketch for you. I don't want to go into proportions of things, because it's very stylised, so it's impossible to say that something is "wrong".
So in terms of advice that I can give you, try to think of shapes more in 3d (your head is nice, but body looks very flat), when drawing out pose it's good to counter shoulder angle to hips angle to avoid character looking stiff. And lastly look up some anatomy books if you have time to do so.

I hope that this helps and good luck with you novel!
(had to resize picture a little for lemma)

Wow, this helps so much! I'm glad you took the time to help me out. I'm definitely going to fix his awkward body when I have time.

Wow, after what Svarn said I feel like my picture sooooo isn't needed at all X'D

So just 2 things to note: 1/ This may not be the style you want to have/develop 2/I'm still in the early process of learning how male anatomy actually works (y no boobs??? щ(ºДºщ))
So this is what I did in what I call a "random anime style"
I hope at least one of the thing said will be useful X'D

Have a good day!

Your corrections help too! I felt like he looked like a dwarf with long legs oops. He's supposed to be 184cm (around 6''2) tall @_@
Thank-you for the corrections!

[sei.chan]

Herro~ one thing I could say is don't hide the hands! XD other than that I wish you luck fellow artist~<3

[we0w]

I'm back after going on a semi-unannounced-hiatus
and I just spent all day working on Ethan's character maps-things



How is this? I can say I'm pretty okay with it; I've been doing a few figure studies since I last posted here~
Also I think my style changed a little bit? Nice?

[CommanderKei]

The second picture is definitely an improvement, I can tell you have been practicing. My advice to you is to keep going, look at real people and apply what you see to your drawings. Worry less about small details and more about the underlining structure of what you are drawing, bones and muscles. If possible, see if you can take a few gesture drawing classes, they do wonders for your anatomy skills, if not, just keep looking at images online, posemaniacs is amazing BUT I find that real people work best. There are several photographers on places like deviantart that specialize in artistic nudes, try to find some and make quick sketches based on those.

I hope this was helpful to you and good luck with your project.

[we0w]

The second picture is definitely an improvement, I can tell you have been practicing. My advice to you is to keep going, look at real people and apply what you see to your drawings. Worry less about small details and more about the underlining structure of what you are drawing, bones and muscles. If possible, see if you can take a few gesture drawing classes, they do wonders for your anatomy skills, if not, just keep looking at images online, posemaniacs is amazing BUT I find that real people work best. There are several photographers on places like deviantart that specialize in artistic nudes, try to find some and make quick sketches based on those.

I hope this was helpful to you and good luck with your project.

Thank you for the advice! I will definitely look into more human pose-photography. ~ I cannot wait until I can freely draw figures without using 30 references.