hamano tries to draw

[hamano]

Hi there,
around a week ago I got a sudden urge to try drawing fanart of Miku after a pretty long break, and I guess I kind of promised to post my drawings here. I'm a beginner and I still have a lot to improve, so I'd like to hear some feedback from all of you. What's good about my drawings and what I should work on?
The two biggest problems I see are (apart from general lack of skill) that I'm bad at inking (shaky hands :P), and in the second drawing Miku's twintails didn't turn out too well. Overall I'm happy though. I was going to make them black-and-white, but today I decided to colour them quickly.

Anyway, this is what I drew:

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[Move->Forward]

You did a good job on these, hamano!

As for things to improve, I'd recommend working on anatomy (though, honestly, this is something a lot of artists will bring up, so don't sweat about any difficulty you may come across in it). It may help to take a picture of yourself in a similar pose or at an angle you are drawing Miku in, and use that as a general guide (i.e. for placement of facial features, general placement of arms, etc).

You are very good at focusing and incorporating small details, such as the ears and flowers, for example. Particularly in the first drawing, the ear is very detailed, and in the second drawing, the flowers look very nice. You've also incorporated clothing details as well, such as with the "nameplate" (not sure what to call it) and its visible sides in the first picture, and the bows' folds of the second. You've even drawn lines for her collar bone!

So, I would say things to work on: anatomy. Strengths: incorporation of small details.

The coloring also looks nice!

Keep it up!

 

[GreenFantasy64]

Are you using Crayola color pencils? If so what pack did you get? The 12, 24, or 74? Because you can use some of the same color family or of the opposite side for the shading.

Also for the first drawing her left eye is a little too far to the left so it looks odd.

 

[ZAR-PARTY | ЦАРЬ-ПАРТИ]

You did a good job on these, hamano!

As for things to improve, I'd recommend working on anatomy (though, honestly, this is something a lot of artists will bring up, so don't sweat about any difficulty you may come across in it). It may help to take a picture of yourself in a similar pose or at an angle you are drawing Miku in, and use that as a general guide (i.e. for placement of facial features, general placement of arms, etc).

You are very good at focusing and incorporating small details, such as the ears and flowers, for example. Particularly in the first drawing, the ear is very detailed, and in the second drawing, the flowers look very nice. You've also incorporated clothing details as well, such as with the "nameplate" (not sure what to call it) and its visible sides in the first picture, and the bows' folds of the second. You've even drawn lines for her collar bone!

So, I would say things to work on: anatomy. Strengths: incorporation of small details.

The coloring also looks nice!

Keep it up!

Taking a selfie in some positions is uncomfortable, so I suggest to buy one of those wooden anatomy dolls or download a free poser app. Both have female bodies available.

Your biggest problem yet are the proportions of her face. It's too long on the first picture and on the second picture it looks like she opened her mouth without using her facial muscles. Just like in the first Project DIVA games. Asian girl faces have round cheeks when they open their mouth. The way her face is formed in the second drawing makes her chin disappear when she smiles. Besides that, the curl on her head is usually bigger.
About the eyes: Miku's eyes are approximately as big as the lower half of her face when her mouth is closed and two times smaller than her forehead. Most of her forehead is covered with hair so many people don't even notice how big it is.
You should watch some videos about how to draw anime girl faces or practice with a "drawing manga for beginners" workbook.

What's nice are your shadows. Their placement is perfect! And the ribbons are nice too.
Overall it's great for a beginner. You should practice by drawing her face from different perspectives. The profile is actually the hardest but best one to practice symmetry.

(Now that I think of it, I need to draw Miku in a wedding dress too.)

 

[hamano]

Thank you all for your feedback! I knew my drawings weren't great, but I had a bit of a hard time finding all the flaws myself. You've given me good advice and hopefully I can improve!

Are you using Crayola color pencils? If so what pack did you get? The 12, 24, or 74? Because you can use some of the same color family or of the opposite side for the shading.

Also for the first drawing her left eye is a little too far to the left so it looks odd.

Just some old Faber Castell 24 set I had lying around.

 

[GreenFantasy64]

Thank you all for your feedback! I knew my drawings weren't great, but I had a bit of a hard time finding all the flaws myself. You've given me good advice and hopefully I can improve!

Don't worry, you will improve over time, hamano! : D

Just some old Faber Castell 24 set I had lying around.

Oh, well I don't own that brand so I can't help you there, sadly. (^_^;)> But I think they can blend easily with each other (unless that was only for prismacolor pencils?) Also I don't know if it will work on Faber Pencils, but if you gently apply some pencil then rub it (with your finger or a Q-tip) then apply the color you want it will create a little darker shade on it. I did that once long ago for a drawing, but it was for a tan color and it came out nicely.

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Don't do it for yellow however...(>_>;)

It's still one of my top three to five favorite drawings from High School.

 

[TheStarPalace]

Most of my positive feedback has been covered by other people in this thread, so I just wanted to add to the "needs better anatomy" part.
The thing that I noticed first in the wedding dress picture was that the arms were way too thin, especially since you drew the torso in a more realistic way. The mouth also looks too far down to me, like she has no chin.

I think most of the problems with the first image have been pointed out already like the too wide head and the uneven eyes and eyebrows. But the front bangs look strange to me? Like her hairline looks way too low down. Also the shading on the hair looks really uneven and not as good as the shading in the rest of the drawing. The hair shading in the second drawing also has the same problems.
But the shading on everything else looks great! Especially how you did it harder or softer to differentiate the clothing materials. Also, if you want to work from more anime-style references/models, I won't tell you not to, but using more realistic figures/virtual models will help you work through more of the anatomy problems.

 

[hamano]

Thanks for your comments!
I'm gonna take notes on the problems all of you pointed out and pay extra attention on them when practising. I'm setting myself a challenge to improve my drawing bit by bit so that within this year I could see a clear improvement. I'm not saying I could be an artist anytime soon though.

 

[lIlI]

You're motivated and have already made a strong start, so I'm sure you'll make great strides this year! I'm looking forward to seeing how your art grows.

The best ways to learn anatomy are as mentioned: taking photographs of yourself or a friend to draw from, and learning how the body works. Youtube channels like Proko and books like Figure Drawing For All Its Worth are excellent in this regard. Practice a little each day and you'll be well on the way.

Good luck!

 

[hamano]

^ I don't know about the strong start, but thanks a bunch for your input!
I've never had a proper book to study drawing with, so I think I'll get one at some point.

 

[summers50]

^ I don't know about the strong start, but thanks a bunch for your input!
I've never had a proper book to study drawing with, so I think I'll get one at some point.

I also like Loomis' books.
Although I would recommend building your foundational knowledge first instead of anatomy by starting with "Successful Drawing".

 

[hamano]

Unfortunately I haven't had as much time to practice as I would've hoped, but I've been sketching stuff now and then. Here's one pencil sketch from yesterday: (as always, feedback would be greatly appreciated)

20180521_185840.jpg

• hamano
• May 21, 2018

 

[mobius017]

That's a really nice sketch!
I was going to point out that she ought to have a name tag on the left side of her chest (her left), but it looks like not all illustrations include that. Either that or it could be just barely past the bottom of the paper.

 

[idoltrash69]

I like your art hamano, it's cute! Miku looks great!

 

[summers50]

1. Mind if i say anything at all
2. do u hav a goal

 

[hamano]

My goal is simply to improve, of course it's quite impossible to say when I have improved so much that I could even call my drawing art. Not for quite a while that's for sure.
For now I'm just gonna stick with drawing faces and save body and different postures for later.

@mobius017 I didn't include too much detail (like her nameplate) since this is just a sketch.

 

[summers50]

ah ok. cool to know you want to improve, it's more efficient getting feedback, years of practice can be shortened to months. so im going to talk at u anyways.

I wouldnt stress over details. the contour of the face and everything shows you have some grasp of sizing and placing features, but you might run into trouble at different angles. Based on the pictures so far...Id say go back and read up on construction and perspective right after that.

everything starts with basic shapes. if you can create a space, by drawing a box and/or sphere in perspective, and move it around...you have taken a big step forward. this is the path to get you from "i can draw this one thing at this one view", to "i can draw this one thing at any view".

 

[GreenFantasy64]

Actually you should take the time to draw the body even if it's doodles on the side. More so on the hands! Then over time you'll get better at it, hamano. (^_^)/

 

[Osakablade]

Unfortunately I haven't had as much time to practice as I would've hoped, but I've been sketching stuff now and then. Here's one pencil sketch from yesterday: (as always, feedback would be greatly appreciated)

20180521_185840.jpg

• hamano
• May 21, 2018

This is very good. Can see your improving.
Keep practising, even if its just while eating lunch or something.. You will get better.
My tip, Checkout Mark Crilley on youtube. He`s great.

 

[hamano]

Thanks for the feedback and advice everyone!