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Note : I had another one of these a log time ago buts it's long gone now!

OK, I have decided to get back to drawing! Please look at this picture I made and tell me how to improve it!

briannavon wrote:Note : I had another one of these a log time ago buts it's long gone now!

OK, I have decided to get back to drawing! Please look at this picture I made and tell me how to improve it!

Well, this one is a lot better than the last one. Unfortunately, right now you're kind of at the point that we can't really tell you how to improve other than to practice... a lot. That's not to say that you're bad, just that right now I see "a woman rubbing the back of her head" instead of "Alice, who's a bit embarrassed right now". Once your able to really put your characters on paper, it'll be easier to refine them so they meet your vision.

One suggestion I can give is to start drawing on a sketchpad instead of just note paper. It'll really help your drawings look more professional, and it will help you get used to different levels of friction on different types of paper, instead of the super-glossiness of notebook paper.

ThisIsNoName wrote: Well, this one is a lot better than the last one. Unfortunately, right now you're kind of at the point that we can't really tell you how to improve other than to practice... a lot. That's not to say that you're bad, just that right now I see "a woman rubbing the back of her head" instead of "Alice, who's a bit embarrassed right now". Once your able to really put your characters on paper, it'll be easier to refine them so they meet your vision.

One suggestion I can give is to start drawing on a sketchpad instead of just note paper. It'll really help your drawings look more professional, and it will help you get used to different levels of friction on different types of paper, instead of the super-glossiness of notebook paper.

I do have some sketch paper, so I will use it as soon as I find it!

I'm not a mega-artist (still learning!), but I drew over it myself and would like to point out a few things. The shape of the head is very round; Real human heads are more egg-shaped, and although anime convention states that heads can even be blocky, it's a good idea to practice with a shape most approximating the human shape first.

Her arm position is a bit awkward, because when scratching behind my head, I raise my elbow up to ear level. I figure it's possible to do it without raising your elbow much (and I drew it that way), but raising it BUT NOT up to ear level makes for extremely awkward scratching (for me, at least); If you actually feel comfortable scratching in the way she does, it might just be personal though.

I hope some of this helps at least a bit; You got the ears mostly right, and have begun drawing a body; I drew disembodied heads for ages before I dared to draw bodies. Good luck.

(EDIT: Also, I realise I still oversized the right-hand breast a bit. LOL Good job, Applegate. The way the arm connects to the body also isn't accurate in my picture, I should've grabbed a reference. Always use references!)

The way you drew it looks so much better! Also, I think I need to pay more attention to how a pose feels.

briannavon wrote:The way you drew it looks so much better! Also, I think I need to pay more attention to how a pose feels.

I can definitely recommend taking your drawing's pose to see if it's natural. You can feel it. If you have a big mirror, you can look at yourself in the mirror. Otherwise, use a camera to take pictures of yourself. At the risk of sounding lewd: Look at yourself and feel free to touch yourself all over during showers, it'll give you a feel for how your body's made. The shape of your muscles, where your bones are, those sort of things.

Do you use guidelines/help lines? Those can be a massive help.

Applegate wrote:

briannavon wrote:The way you drew it looks so much better! Also, I think I need to pay more attention to how a pose feels.

I can definitely recommend taking your drawing's pose to see if it's natural. You can feel it. If you have a big mirror, you can look at yourself in the mirror. Otherwise, use a camera to take pictures of yourself. At the risk of sounding lewd: Look at yourself and feel free to touch yourself all over during showers, it'll give you a feel for how your body's made. The shape of your muscles, where your bones are, those sort of things.

Do you use guidelines/help lines? Those can be a massive help.

I do use some guidelines (mostly for eyes). Also, don't worry, you were not being lewd!

briannavon wrote:I do use some guidelines (mostly for eyes). Also, don't worry, you were not being lewd!

Don't use them for the eyes. use them on everything.

try looking up references.