A little beginner starts to draw (Beginner drawings inside /!\)

[MysticPerl]

Here is my drawing. I did it with my new tablet. I have trouble getting clean lines out of it, and I tried drawing a profile but I gave up because it looked horrible. o.o
Advice regarding profiles is welcome+ advice on this drawing too. I know it's got a lot of problems, I'm a beginner so that's to be expected.

EDIT: I finally drew a half-decent profile. I can see it looks off, but it looks better than the others one I made. ._.

[Shadowsfade]

I think they're pretty good for a beginner my advice for the first picture would be to add a bit more of a hairline above the fringe, or just bring the fringe a bit lower down, as most fringes reach the eyebrows, as you generally see more hair on the top of a head. Also, the white circles for sparkle/reflection I think might be a bit big, it makes the eyes look a bit busy - though it might even out if the pupils were coloured.

The profile is also pretty good I would suggest making the ears slightly bigger / move them down a bit - if you feel your own ears, the bottom starts around the bottom of the mouth, and the top is just below the eye. You could also add a slight curve to the forehead (not too big) so it doesnt look completely flat. And the last doodle is super cute I love that apple. Hope it helps and doesnt sound harsh or anything! Would like to see more pics!

[MysticPerl]

Wow, thank you so much! Your advice really helps, and you didn't sound harsh at all
I'll try to draw some more tonight! I'll re-read your advice lots of times so that it sinks in, and I'll do my best to improve.

[nisaren]

Nice work. It's impressive that you've just started drawing. Personally, I think you'd be better off just practicing a lot (mostly from life or reference photos) than focusing on receiving critiques at this point in your artistic career. But since you've asked, hopefully I can give some help.

In the first two pictures, as was pointed out by Shadowsfade, the eyes look really busy and draw attention away from everything else. A good habit that you can develop now as you start is to do construction lines. Taking time to draw the underlying shapes of the body and head makes it easier to draw clothing or hair more convincingly. Here's a quick illustration of what I mean.

(Under spoiler due to page stretching)

SPOILER! :

Usually I draw a stick figure to get general pose and proportions. Then I draw a quick sketch of the body correcting anything that looks out of place (like her right hand). Then I draw on the clothes over top. As you get better you can merge these steps together, but this process has helped me out a lot. Hope it helps you as well.

[MysticPerl]

First of all, thanks a lot for your comments and support I wrote a message but it seems like it wasn't published. You're right--I need to practice a lot if I want to improve. My main issue is that I don't have a lot of reference photos. Could you suggest a good website/ book?
I've always had trouble drawing eyes. It's my Achilles' heel I guess! I need to find a few "styles" of eyes that look better. I'm mainly interested in cute characters right now, but I wouldn't mind drawing darker drawings once I'm past the beginner stage. Like you said, I should draw construction lines first. I need to learn how to draw those. Your drawing helps, thanks!

I still have trouble using my tablet. Which program would you recommend? I think I need to learn to make layers like most of you guys.

[SuperKasey]

Okay I have no idea what the hell that was. Excuse me while I try to figure out where this Kaseydilla account came from @.@ Anyway, here is what I originally said:

What program are you currently using? There are some good free *coughandpirateablecough* programs out there like GIMP and you could always come use the group board :3
As for reference pictures of the human body I tend to find gems in model databases like modelmayhem.com It's not necessarily for artists but some of the models have awesome photographs and there's no harm in using them for practice. I think there are some more sites listed in the drawing and tutorials forum. And as always keep your eyes open while you're surfing the web. If you find a picture that strikes your fancy save that sucker so you can study it.
If you want to draw cute things there's no harm in emulating a particular artist's style until you figure out what you like. Find some good manga ka, copy them a bit and study how they draw. Of course it's important to learn how things are constructed and drawn in realistic terms as well so you can see how the artist is bending the rules, but keeping a style that is believable and appealing. There are lots of tutorials on how to draw eyes (and everything else you could ever want) all over the net, youtube, deviant art and right here on MT. Don't forget to check them out.

[Shadowsfade]

Yeah, basically what SuperKasey said - MT has lots of good tutorials for beginners, and googling pictures so you can study the anatomy / poses is really helpful, and you can just build on from there. Deviantart has lots of people who stockpile all sorts of poses, so you can browse there, and posemaniacs also have a lot of poses too. Other than that there'll be loads of books out there you could find!

[nisaren]

Whenever I need reference photos I usually just go to Google images and do a quick search. There's a huge amount of photo refs available and it doesn't really matter where you get it from. The best way would be to take your own pictures with a digital camera since you don't have to worry about copyright issues.

There's a lot of good programs you can use some free and some expensive. If you really want to do digital art the best program you can get is Photoshop regardless of its price. Another good program is Corel Painter 12 (I use 11 since it's only $90 now) or Paint Tool Sai (costs around $70). As Kaseydilla mentioned GIMP is also a really good program and what's even better is that it's free. It takes a bit of study to really understand how to use it, but it's definitely a powerful program - similar to Photoshop. Another opensource program that I have enjoyed using is Mypaint - you may like this program best if you're just starting out. It's free and easy to use.

Other noteworthy programs that aren't free but fairly popular
- OpenCanvas
- Illustudio
- Manga Studio EX

[MysticPerl]

First of all, thanks for all the cool answers.
Right now, I'm using paint. I know it sucks, but I didn't know of any other good programs. I'm downloading GIMP right now, thanks!
Modelmayhem is a bit too risque for me, but maybe I can find good stuff on this website anyway.
I'll also try to find mangakas I can emulate. To be honest, I've never read a manga in my life. However, I watched anime quite a bit a few years ago. I also watched DBZ when I was 5 years old (don't know what my parents were thinking putting me in front of this but nvm).
My favorite animes would be Yu-Gi-Oh (I love the style of the drawings), Mirmo, some series about witches (not Winx though), then Code Lyoko and maybe Pokemon. DBZ is okay but I kind of hate most of the drawings in it. It's not what I'd call cute, but it's a style I might learn to like once I'm a bit better.
I really have to plug in my tablet and start drawing once I get GIMP. I'll try to use construction lines and layers and I'll probably post something tonight. I'm not using Paint again because it's too limited.

I also like drawing with pencils but for some reason I've had an aversion to pencils lately. Since I got a tablet for Christmas, I might as well use it, right? Even if it's a cheap one, I still like it, and it's good enough for a beginner like me. It's pretty big, too.

[MysticPerl]

I downloaded GIMP and figured out the layers thing. However, I still don't know how to use another color for the layer, and how to make my black solid. Oh well, it doesn't matter. The important thing is that I now have a half-decent program to draw!
I included the original image with my drawing (before & after versions). I know I messed up her hair. I didn't want to tie it in a bun but the haircut I gave her looks horrible. I should have used a separate layer for the haircut. That way I could have fixed it with your advice! I really really need a tutorial on hair. Critiques are, of course, welcome


I know the pics aren't that similar. I didn't make the hand because I had enough of a hard time drawing the neck, sorry.