learning to draw...

[Mangofett]

i've wanted to learn to draw for a while now. now that school has started, i am suspecting that it will be quite an excellent procrastination tool. regardless, i was wondering if anyone had any good tutorials for general manga drawing, inking, etc that they recommend. also i'm wondering if there such a thing like those posable wood dolls but virtual (like a 3d program)

well this started out as a joke between my friends but here i have my first two attempts at drawing manga chars. theres a ton of eraser marks on the first one from trying to figure out where to place each body part to not make it look weird. im still having trouble with that (hence the request for the virtual wood doll posing thing) or if anyone has a different tutorial for such a thing

first picture is the pantyshot girl from szs (dont ask why someone asked me to draw it)

Spoiler

(whats out of proportion in this image?)

second (also szs) is just a sketch trying out a 'worried' expression (a tutorial for this would be nice too)

Spoiler

(and in this one?)

so wondering if any expert or above-newbie artists want to help me get started...

 

[Psyfira]

Welcome to the dark side

I'm still learning but I'll give it a shot. Coming together nicely for a first attempt, and you've had a go at shading which is something a lot of people skip in the beginning so good one on that.

About proportions: the necks look a bit too narrow to me. In image 2 look at a photograph for shoulders, shoulders tend more sideways than sloping straight down (I know what I mean but it's hard to put in words). Image 1, try looking behind yourself in a mirror and see where your shoulder goes. One of the eyes is off, and there's no way the back of that skirt was ever long enough to cover her arse.

I can't comment on the legs because I still haven't got the hang of drawing them myself.

I haven't got any links for manga-specific tutorials, the ones I used when I was starting out have disappeared from the internet (apparently Geocities isn't around anymore, whod've thunk it?

). Try searching DeviantArt, filter down to Resources and Stock > Tutorials and go from there. Cedarseed has written some good tutorials on proportions and various things that are worth checking out. Bear in mind by sticking to a purely Manga route you will pick up some bad habits which may be rather hard to shake later on, especially with facial features. Manga tends to skip drawing noses and lips properly, it is worth looking to other sources to pick those features up and incorporate them back into your own drawings.

Most artists will tell you to start with anatomy tutorials based in realism and go back to manga afterwards, if you feel that's something you'd be interested in doing google "Andrew Loomis", he wrote a couple of books which are now out of print but easy to find in PDF form that are supposed to be rather good.

Posable wooden dolls; I've never had one, but I've heard they're not much use and most usually end up as dust magnets.

For the eraser marks soft white rubbers are best, hard ones tend to smudge all over the page rather than picking the pencil up so you're fighting a losing battle before you've even begun. Aim to get construction lines as light as possible until you're certain the limb is in the right place before fleshing out the details (gives you less to rub out!). Consider tracing off to a fresh sheet if things get too messy.

Yeah I'm out. Stick with it, it really is rather fun

 

[Law]

About proportions: the necks look a bit too narrow to me. In image 2 look at a photograph for shoulders, shoulders tend more sideways than sloping straight down (I know what I mean but it's hard to put in words). Image 1, try looking behind yourself in a mirror and see where your shoulder goes. One of the eyes is off, and there's no way the back of that skirt was ever long enough to cover her arse.

I can't comment on the legs because I still haven't got the hang of drawing them myself.

It's anime, there's no such thing as proportions.


Also the Andrew Loomis books are good. I also recommend these.

 

[Jaems]

It's anime, there's no such thing as proportions.

Seconded.

 

[Mangofett]

haha, i think its more like there are 'anime proportions'

well i got myself a white eraser (says its mars plastic) which does a very good job of erasing

anyway, i got a rar pack of loomis' books, and they are great. i wasn't trying to imply i only wanted to draw manga, but that thats where i'd like to end up

 

[iPikachu]

well, you draw better than all save for 3/4 people in my class.

i don't know if it helps, but i sort of begin with stick people, then add "meat" and then the head shoulders clothes etc.

It's anime, there's no such thing as proportions.

manga/anime porpotions exist but they don't follow common sense

i think Deviantart has some anime/manga tutorials, i saw one for heads/faces.

 

[Psyfira]

It's anime, there's no such thing as proportions.

Lol, sometimes.

You're holding the pencil, whatever goes down on the paper is up to you. There's a lot of crap out there (including published works), but the people who put the time in, pull it back towards reality and get it right produce some amazing stuff.

 

[Jaems]

There are no real "anime proportions" because there are so many styles of anime. And most of the anime styles have fucked-up proportion anyway. It all depends on style and consistency, I guess.

 

[Mangofett]

still drawing with a lot of reference material (but slowly getting better)

those Andrew Loomis books do help quite a bit... i find myself spending less time figuring out how to draw something

Spoiler

also here i tried live trace on AI to e-ink the image
http://i26.tinypic.com/10rmtfk.jpg

 

[Mangofett]

first picture drawn completely from memory and without reference

however it was so messy with pencil i had to live trace and i gave it this shitty paintjob i spent literally 3 minutes on by clicking with a paint bucket because i dont know how to color.

Spoiler

http://i26.tinypic.com/2rmwi01.jpg

 

[sprogurt]

Nice! been following your work for a couple of weeks now and hell, you've gotten better fast as hell! Would of tooken me months! I'd say try to learn creases and at first it'll feel like you're going nowhere but in the end it will pay off (The coat has a few nice creases but the trouser only has 1, wouldn't seem a problem for you though ^.^. Also when it comes to inking drawings and you want shadow i.e under breasts, under chin or creases what i do is use gimp (most people think of it as a free alternative to photoshop, even though it can compete it's not trying to be photoshop), add a new layer and draw the shadows in black and lower the opacity of the shadow layer. But if you just wanna use this as a procrastination tool and not all the steps (inking etc) then you're nearly there! keep up the good work and i look forward to seeing more of your art! good luck! >^.^

 

[Vidboy10]

Nice! been following your work for a couple of weeks now and hell, you've gotten better fast as hell! Would of tooken me months! I'd say try to learn creases and at first it'll feel like you're going nowhere but in the end it will pay off (The coat has a few nice creases but the trouser only has 1, wouldn't seem a problem for you though ^.^. Also when it comes to inking drawings and you want shadow i.e under breasts, under chin or creases what i do is use gimp (most people think of it as a free alternative to photoshop, even though it can compete it's not trying to be photoshop), add a new layer and draw the shadows in black and lower the opacity of the shadow layer. But if you just wanna use this as a procrastination tool and not all the steps (inking etc) then you're nearly there! keep up the good work and i look forward to seeing more of your art! good luck! >^.^

 

[sprogurt]

XD yeah i'm weird, i can't do normal smileys >.

 

[Orc]

Practice drawing me.

 

[Mangofett]

thank you for your words of encouragement

same image, tried adding shading

Spoiler

i also drew an orc so i might upload that maybe

 

[sprogurt]

nice shading! can't wait for your next piece! ^.^ you've gotten me to attempt drawing at angles again XD