Another "attempt" at drawing a human

[Hanatori]

I placed "attempt" in quotation marks because it's hardly even an attempt; it's just some shoddy excuse for a human drawing,

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/19603846/

Here it is. It's of one of my characters, Haruo. It's a pretty lousy drawing, but I'm trying to improve as quickly as possible, because I plan on starting a comic as soon as possible. Unless I learn to draw humans that don't suck, I'm just going to have an even crappier excuse for a comic, and I'll have low self-esteem when it comes to my art. -_-

 

[Kento]

Just like I said over DA, here's a thought

Well, as you pointed out, the human proportions need improvements, but you'll get eventually there. The arms should be longer. A simple tip is to use your own body proportion as guide. Just try to be in the same pose of the character you are drawing and u'll notice some errors, which you can learn from.

For some practice in human drawing, try to focus on drawing one single character over and over, with.. lets say a "regular body", not too fat nor slim. It worked for me.

Also, try breaking apart each body part into geometrical figures and think of them separatly. Once you master that, you can go on working on details such as muscles. =)

Keep up thr practice and don't give up

 

[Pacific Pikachu]

It's not a bad picture, though very simple. It could certainly use some work, but I'll go into that in a second. Simplistic little sketches like these are an excellent way to practice and keep working, so I'd suggest you do as many as you can--in different poses, at different angles, etc. Despite what anyone says, don't be afraid to copy anime pictures you like at first--this will get you used to the way the proportions should be, and offer a base from which to jump from. I've been drawing for a long time, but I always use a reference picture at least the first few times I draw a character I've never drawn before.

So, the actual picture-- The head seems to go up higher than it actually should. The face is fairly good--a little smooshed together (it merely looks like you needed a little more space--not a big deal. Just draw bigger next time. ), but you get the idea across. The body is very simple and doesn't have much detail for muscle, clothing wrinkles, or anything, but this is not to worry about as you're working on simple proportions right now anyway. The actual proportions of the body aren't bad at all--the legs are slightly too long and the arms slightly too short, but you've got it a lot more correct than a lot of beginners I've met.

Anyway, just keep working at it and working at it and I guarantee you'll improve with time and experience. Using friends or family as models isn't a bad idea, and I'd definitely recommend using some anime (or whatever) reference pictures while you're drawing. Keep up the drawing, and continue posting! It's nice to watch people improve.

 

[Hanatori]

Well, I tried again today with the same character. I got out a few of my how-to-draw books ("How to Draw Manga: Getting Started" was the primary resource for this particular drawing) and took a look at those. I didn't see Pacific Pikachu's posts until I had scanned the drawing and had proceeded to resize it/screw around with the contrast (I'll explain that later).

Admittedly, I don't want my characters to look too realistic. I want them to be well-proportioned, yes, but not too realistic. While I might want to draw folds in the clothing later on, for right now, I'm not really concerned with that. ^^;;; My style is fine as-is, in my opinion - I just want my humans to be well-proportioned so I don't have a huge problem with it in the future.

When I tried to draw a human that was six heads tall, I couldn't do it. Admittedly, it was probably because I was worried about the proportions regarding the head and the upper body. =\ I used to try using geometric shapes for the body, but it didn't work well for me. Later, I found another method in a cartooning book that was only for a running pose, but it worked quite well for me - or, at least, better than the geometric shapes. That, and it wasn't as time-consuming, and that's another issue I'm facing.

For this sketch, I tried drawing Haruo as being about five heads tall (as you'll see in the picture). I tried lengthening the arms a bit, but I don't think they turned out to be any longer (about halfway down the upper leg). ^^;;; Admittedly, I used a proportional guide for humans that were five heads tall (it came from the book mentioned above). I think I did an okay job of following the proportioned given in the book, though I didn't do quite as well as I could have.

Erm... *runs and leaves her sketch behind* ^_~;; Hopefully, I didn't come across as stubborn, or as someone who doesn't have the foggiest idea about what she's talking about. ^^;;; Thanks for the advice - I'll use it well, and meanwhile, I'll also turn to other references. *holds up a stack of how-to-draw books* I was actually flipping through one of my Naruto animation books and looking at the proportions for the characters earlier (probably several hours before I drew the picture).

(I screwed around with the contrast in Photoshop so you could see the methods I used on the paper to draw Haruo. The scanner that I use tends to make pictures seem lighter than they actually are. ^^')

 

[Pacific Pikachu]

Oh, I'm definitely seeing an improvement in that picture!

Yessss, use the Naruto animation books! XD Sorry, I'm just unhealthily obsessed. Ignore it. *Points to new avatar*

You seem to have gotten the basic proportions much more correct in this latest picture. The arms and legs are the correct length, and overall, the body just looks good. The chin could be slightly less pointy, and a little more eye spacing wouldn't hurt. Also, don't forget ears! The shoulders are still a bit too narrow, which results in the body being a little too small for the head, but it's kind of okay because it just makes the character look younger. The way the neck connects to the shoulders doesn't look right, for some reason.

For the most part, however, I'm already seeing the improvement. Just keep working at it! I think what you've been doing so far with your "How To" books and Naruto pictures is definitely helping. You're a fast learner, it seems.

Don't worry, you're not coming across as stubborn at all. Just someone who knows how they want their pictures to look--which is a good thing. Just keep aiming for the kind of drawing you want to achieve, and you'll continue improving.

 

[Hanatori]

Thanks. I'm kind of proud of my improvement so far.

I did draw another picture today, and, after what seemed like an eternity, finished coloring it in Photoshop.

Blaziken morph

I think this may be the best thing I've drawn in a while. It certainly turned out exactly as I wanted, which, from my perspective, is a very good thing, since that happens with virtually none of my pictures.

>but it's kind of okay because it just makes the character look younger.

Well, he's 32. ^^;;;

Haruo: No comment. >>

>Yessss, use the Naruto animation books!

Yeeeesss, the power of the animation book compels me! =) Ph33r the power of Sasuke, who is sexier than Rabs' Magnemite! XD [/PASBL joke]

 

[Kasumi]

Quoting my comment on dA, because I saw the pic in there first. ^^;

Oh this one is very nice. Good action pose, nice colouring. DBZ-esque! He looks like a Super Saiyajin XD;;

My only crits are the pose of his legs... they seem a bit off. I think it's the feet what makes it look odd. The right one should be facing to the right. And the knee on the left leg should be a bit higher than it is now.

Anyway, I really like how you drew the muscles. Seems you're getting better at anatomy, Hana-chan.