Closed take down thread

[Seelenlos]

Hello,


This thread is more of learning experience for me rather than showcasing my skills ( I don't have any ). Recently I have taken interest in drawing since it's a valuable skill to have. I've always been terrible at drawing since i was in first grade most of my drawings were messy, thick, and unorganized and my handwriting was nearly illegable. As I grew older, these problems continue to plague me. I have practiced for over a month. I drew about fifty pictures during that time frame. However most of my drawings are terrible. The sizes are usually inconsistant, my shading is poor, and overall I can see little or no improvement. I am continuing to practice everyday and i usually finish two or three drawings in a day, but I feel like i'm not going anywhere which severely irritates me. I have looked at numerous how to videos for help but they don't help me much. I feel like I lack the most basic skills to draw anything. So I am posting some of my pictures to see if I can get any help with drawing. Please leave feedback for my drawings.


Thank you.<p><a href="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2015_08/20150823_094612.jpg.36a5c52c360e4b4e5fd7b24aded46cb4.jpg" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="70705" src="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2015_08/20150823_094612.jpg.36a5c52c360e4b4e5fd7b24aded46cb4.jpg" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p><p><a href="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2015_08/20150823_094624.jpg.0f0bf9517c0149c622081923e49ce493.jpg" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="70706" src="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2015_08/20150823_094624.jpg.0f0bf9517c0149c622081923e49ce493.jpg" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p><p><a href="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2015_08/eb7e57b41c482cdee9a132bbd4c4a691.jpg.dfabd4dbd3eb84bde471114a89f91861.jpg" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="70707" src="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2015_08/eb7e57b41c482cdee9a132bbd4c4a691.jpg.dfabd4dbd3eb84bde471114a89f91861.jpg" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p>

 

[tsundere]

I might be able to help! I'm not amazing at art or anything but I have been doing it for a while now and have a thread up in this forum.


Your head shapes are pretty good, although the chins seem a bit too long and pointy (that seems to be a common problem with beginners, looking at my old drawings all of the chins were really long.) The positioning of the eyes and mouth seem to be off - the best way to fix that is just by looking at drawings you like and trying to replicate the positioning.


You can also use outlines to get a better looking head shape. I drew a quick and sketchy example of how I do faces and put it in the spoiler. It's just the common 'circle with two lines' technique that a lot of people use, but I find it really helpful when my faces look wrong.

Spoiler

You said you're practicing every day which is the best possible thing you can do to improve at art. It's easy to get discouraged, especially when you get into slumps where you don't seem to be getting better (I'm actually in one right now.) But just keep pushing forward and you can definitely get really good!

 

[Seelenlos]

@tsundere


I'm having trouble drawing the jawline. When I draw the head I make a circle and curve down the outer edges to make a jawline for the face. When i'm drawing the face right or left it looks okay, but if I draw fron the center it's usually messed up. I use guidelines when I draw but I think i'm messing it up somehow. As for the head shape I just suck at drawing circles so I have to constantly erase it and correct them. I guess they look okay since you said they were good. Do you have any advice on how to make your lines thinner? I feel like I draw too "heavy" so the lines look awkward. Anyway, thank you for the advice i'll definitely follow it.

 

[tsundere]

@tsundere
I'm having trouble drawing the jawline. When I draw the head I make a circle and curve down the outer edges to make a jawline for the face. When i'm drawing the face right or left it looks okay, but if I draw fron the center it's usually messed up. I use guidelines when I draw but I think i'm messing it up somehow. As for the head shape I just suck at drawing circles so I have to constantly erase it and correct them. I guess they look okay since you said they were good. Do you have any advice on how to make your lines thinner? I feel like I draw too "heavy" so the lines look awkward. Anyway, thank you for the advice i'll definitely follow it.

Yeah, drawing faces from the center can be kind of tough sometimes. Curving down the outer edges to make a jawline is the right thing to do, it's just important to make sure that both sides look symmetrical, if that makes sense!


As for the lines, do light and quick strokes, especially when making sketches. It's really hard to draw a bigger shape (like a head) well in just one thick stroke, so it works better to do lots of thin strokes. This doesn't apply to lineart, but you're just working on sketches so it's fine.


Also, the pencil you use makes a difference in terms of how thick the lines look. I don't know much about traditional art since I really only draw digitally nowadays, but there are some types of pencils that make naturally thicker lines. Also you could try not pressing down on the paper so hard, and making sure the pencil is sharpened.


Hopefully what I'm saying makes sense, if you want me to clarify anything just ask! I'm not so great at explaining things sometimes.

 

[Seelenlos]

Yeah, drawing faces from the center can be kind of tough sometimes. Curving down the outer edges to make a jawline is the right thing to do, it's just important to make sure that both sides look symmetrical, if that makes sense!
As for the lines, do light and quick strokes, especially when making sketches. It's really hard to draw a bigger shape (like a head) well in just one thick stroke, so it works better to do lots of thin strokes. This doesn't apply to lineart, but you're just working on sketches so it's fine.


Also, the pencil you use makes a difference in terms of how thick the lines look. I don't know much about traditional art since I really only draw digitally nowadays, but there are some types of pencils that make naturally thicker lines. Also you could try not pressing down on the paper so hard, and making sure the pencil is sharpened.


Hopefully what I'm saying makes sense, if you want me to clarify anything just ask! I'm not so great at explaining things sometimes.

Alright thank you for the help! I'll get back to drawing using your advice then post it here later on.

 

[Seelenlos]

Quick update if any one is still watching this thread. Although my drawing are techinically awful at least i'm starting to get the places right and head shape correct. I attempted to draw some hair which didn't work out well for me.<p><a href="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2015_09/d160ec89-0218-4e41-827c-7296e093e641.jpg.7f6d5894a046627e97f4cd14a755076e.jpg" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="73343" src="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2015_09/d160ec89-0218-4e41-827c-7296e093e641.jpg.7f6d5894a046627e97f4cd14a755076e.jpg" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p>

 

[Seelenlos]

Tried again and redrew the orginal drawing. I looked at a couple of pictures for guidance with the hair. The hair turned out much better although it is still sloppy. I continue struggling with drawing the eyes. I think I nailed the head shape because it is only taking me around five minutes to draw a decent outline for a head. Everything else is still a struggle due to my lack of techinical skills.<p><a href="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2015_09/d7c6a50d-ba51-4df8-b993-3d5319124dec.jpg.ca00f7a4f27e653d2c4f2bd46534bd42.jpg" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="73371" src="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2015_09/d7c6a50d-ba51-4df8-b993-3d5319124dec.jpg.ca00f7a4f27e653d2c4f2bd46534bd42.jpg" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p>

 

[yonmita rae]

The head shape looks good, although I would try to spend a bit more time on the head and facial feature before moving on...For me the best part because of spacing and nose placement. I would do as @tsundere said and just do a simple circle, what I used to do was use a bottle cap or a small circular object to get it right. With the actual facial structure, I do a cross, meaning I do a simple line down and line across like some others do, and what that does is help with eyes, nose and mouth placement.


Eyes...mmm, now eyes depend on what you are going for just for begginers I'd try a curved eye type

And after these you can see how to plave

 

[Seelenlos]

I used to use three lines for guidelines for the head shape. I don't think the head is a big deal for me. I used a simple cross like @tsundere said. I think the placements are okay but I could be wrong. Most of the issue is just my lack of skill overall along with having no clue how to draw eyes and hair right.

 

[Seelenlos]

Woot. Next shots.<p><a href="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2015_10/20151001_022654.jpg.de57803c1f4c87967e8591e9d3e6b00f.jpg" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="77941" src="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2015_10/20151001_022654.jpg.de57803c1f4c87967e8591e9d3e6b00f.jpg" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p>

 

[Seelenlos]

And nobody gave a shit. Okay that's fine I guess.