RafaelYuji's artworks

[RafaelYuji]

Well i want to improve my drawings, so here the first one

I will ink it later, but as you can see the hands are my problem, also i want to hear you guys critique since i don't know were i can improve more, but my REAL problem will be the inking.... i horrible using nibpens. Well i ink it tomorrow.

[ClockHand]

I can see hands are your problem, and the only way to improve it is looking real human hands and practice with those, it will give you idea on how hands take different aspects depending on what are they doing. Also I would recommend you to think how hands work or see your own hands on the action of doing what your drawing is doing. But basically at the end, hands and any other human body part, needs practice and understanding from the human body, and ones this is understood, creating synthesis of the human body through a expressionist, cartoon, anime style or what ever style you want to make, it will become easier (as you know the base).

Other odds things are the clothing, as the wrinkles has too much weight and almost nothing of depth. If you look at the drop on the arms, you can see it look like some kind of heavy fabric that can maintain itself on wrinkles that challenge gravity. But at the same time, the cloth doesn't look like working on a depth effect, which make us, the watchers, to perceive the drawing as a 2D stiff model, something you should try to evade. And this problem is not just on the arms, but also the body and skirt, as the body doesn't provoke deepness, the quiver belt goes around the body without even noticing the shape of the body and the horizontal strips on the abs have no volume either. The skirt is being cut in a section that makes it look that its asymmetric or with a bad cut (look left bottom, you are going to see the skirt lifting a little, the problem is that all the wrinkles goes down, except those, making the idea that I'm looking 2 different things that do no mix, but as being drawn as the same, create this perception that the skirt has a bad cut).

What I can do see is that you have focused a lot on practicing faces, specially that kind of anime faces, as its basically the cleanest part you drew and it shows most guide lines. I recommend you to give as much care to the body, hands and foot, these last two are the hardest for most people, and to improve all this, is always going back to real human body and a lot of practice, understanding and love.

[Blue_Dragon]

^This

I also might suggest if you're nervous using India ink and pen nibs, you could use technical pens and pens with varying thickness. I use both (not saying I'm great with either) but when I don't feel like using ink, I'll use the tech pens and they can provide varying line weights, as well.

Up to you, just a suggestion.

[theAnimeRebel]

Get a halfway... a nib pen that doesn't take ink from a jar. Pigma offers one, I think... anyways, I have one, it's an angled calligraphy nib on a standard pen. It works for practice. You need a G-Nib though for professional manga.

[Demonfyre]

Personally I would be inclined to say the opposite inking wise, work with something you are comfortable working with, there is no point in getting something fancy if it doesn't feel right to use. Practice with different types of pen and pencil of course, but make sure it's the choice right for you

Also as a suggestion, if you don't want to mess this one when inking why not try using something you are familiar with, like just a regular ball point pen? Yes, it's not as sophisticated as the mass variety out there, but that shouldn't be to much of a hindrance if you are careful. Practice with the nib pen first and get used to using it before inking pieces you really like, by which I mean inking old sketches you don't really care about or just practising drawing straight and arcing lines neatly.

You need a G-Nib though for professional manga.

As for needing a G-nib pen, it's highly unlikely that there is only the one brand or type that will give the results you need, frankly I find such a statement ludicrous, that is the great thing about having a diversity of mediums, being able to experiment and try them out and not being restricted to this one pen.


On a side note, the character is very cute, I am loving the hair and the eyes! I think you could possibly raise the ear a bit and pretty much everything else was covered by Clock. I look forward to seeing more!

[JJJorgie]

Hi! Welcome to the critique corner This is a really cute piece! I love the hair and face especially. As far as critiques goe, listen to clock. I agree with him completely!

You need a G-Nib though for professional manga.

^ I disagree. You can use any tool for professional work. It's what's most comfortable for the artist to use and what gives the artist the look they're personally wanting.

If you're nervous about inking (I know I was), inking some practice doodles first to find the look and technique you like

[theAnimeRebel]

G-Nib meaning the most standard purpose widely sworn by pen by mangaka out there.

Speedball offers some of the best nibs out there, but they're all very specialized so unless you know what you are doing...

For practice though, I would reccomend the Sakura Pigma sets. They're (relatively) inexpensive and easy to use, but the lines are hard to give some life to.

And I disagree with the common thread of advice here--- don't stick to what you know. Push yourself to learn. Practice, practice, practice, until you find something that works. Always work on improvement.

[Demonfyre]

And I disagree with the common thread of advice here--- don't stick to what you know. Push yourself to learn. Practice, practice, practice, until you find something that works. Always work on improvement.

I and no one here said not to learn or practice, I said anyway to practice it first before applying it to pieces you are proud of and then I went on to suggest ways around the problem being faced in regards to inking that current piece in a comfortable and relatively safe fashion.

G-Nib meaning the most standard purpose widely sworn by pen by mangaka out there.

That also may be the case, but just because it's the 'best' pen and is used by Mangaka's everywhere doesn't mean we must swear fealty to it, and also considering the fact that we are not currently Mangaka's and one pen won't make that difference just from one purchase. It's folly to say that this one thing is the best and is incomparable to everything else, especially considering now a days you can achieve a similar effect using the digital medium as well.

[theAnimeRebel]

*slams head on desk*

Must we argue? I was disagreeing to the "stick within your comfort level" thing. If we don't challenge ourselves... who will?

And it doesn't matter what type of pen you use as long as you can achieve the desired results. For our purposesess here G-Nib, Sakura and Speedball would go a long ways in acheiveing desired effect. As far a digital... screw that. Artists should learn manually before using a computer.

[JJJorgie]

I must agree with Demon there.

Try different things out, but not on your main pieces until you're actually comfortable with it. There's no point in destroying a great picture because you're uncomfortable with a tool but are trying to be "professional". The tools don't make the artist!!!

If you're looking for some practice pens, try Faber-Castell. They're extremely cheap, last forever, come in tons of different sizes, and you can find them at your local craft store.