…lol. Thanks averil. That’s exactly the kind of stuff I need.
wow, i like your drawings … i think the “flick” one is the best ^^" and i like the man with the belt and the boots (last picture post)
i love how you draw the girls hair ^^
maybe you can color some of your pics ^^ if you need help then ask me 
my coloring skills: http://animexx-en.onlinewelten.com/fanarts/output/?fa=1415791&sort=zeichner&ordner=-1 (i didn’t do the outlines)
the photos are really cool i love the nature (it reminds me of a nice trip on vacation) 
Its good to see you’re not puting too much attention on seperating the strands of hair. Although you might want to try drawing single stands of hair so that you can piece them together and make your hair look not only more realistic but also make it easier to draw in motion.
Also I would suggest adding some folds to your clothing so it looks more fabricy and you can define what type of fabric it is by how it folds.
@Blackcat - thanks - I will take you up on the offer of learning from you some pointers in colouring. It’s just that I have plenty of problems just getting the hands, facials, limbs and editing to name a few in my check list at the moment. I will at some stage pm you my resources . . . or lack of. I appreciate your offer.
@Mr. Moehawk - regarding folds in clothing, again I have a basic understading of this, I know that there is an entire book with just how to clothes in the anime series, I don’t want to touch this until I have a firm or at least reasonable grasp of form. But again, yes I will pay attention to this aspect.
Here’s a quick sketch from last nite; please note that the background is a normal digital image that I tweaked in GIMP:
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This is one that I had to think - I often get the creeps thinking about creepies crawlies over my skin. So this image came to mind. I’ll put a story to this.
There was a village in ancient Greece that once worshiped a giant millipede in pond. Ofcourse the millipede, a sole of it’s species did not know much except that people would feed it. Then all of a sudden the people started causing it pain but throwing stones and sticks, being blind, it would know of their approach by the vibrations of their feet to near the pond. And it hid when the feet approached. The pond once clear, now was filthy with the rubbish of the village and the millipede adapted from
cleaniness to grime and dirt.
After many hundreds of years the millipedes’s legend grew and a Roman emperor decreed that this millipede be hunted and brought to him.
A praetorian was chosen, one who erred and raised the irre of his commander. This praetorian had served 12 years in the legion and knowing nothing but to follow orders went out kill this millipede. The millipede died without much effort.
On the way back with the body of the millipede, the praetorian thinks about his action, and his role in life.
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About the picture of the man with a knife. Try to put forth the image that his waist is there. You don’t want people to think that your characters don’t have waists, especially the women. The torso isnt as long as it can seem if you consider the waist a seperate measurement from the legs and torso.
To adress another problem, you might wnat to draw a crude sketch of what your character looks like under the clothes. It might soun wierd, but it is essintial at times. This includes men and women and it can help you make your clothes seem like ther’s flesh under them.
Finally, be aware that seperating the pectorials from the lower torso can help you make more realistic physiques for both genders. For example, the man with the knife has broad shoulders but laks the heavy build that one might expect from such broad shoulders. the mucles that go into your armpit (there are alot and I cn’t remember thier names.) Continue down to your abdomen. I’m sorry if you might fing this explanation a bit confusing, but you can always pick up a book on anatomy.
@Mr Moehawk - I understand exactly what you mean. I do draw the skeletal structures, and when I put clothes on them after, they turn out quite extraordinary. I don’t notice this when sketching, but after it’s been scanned, they stand out in the computer screen. I will work on this.
Regarding the folds in clothing, I am working on that.
You advice keeps on taking me out of my comfortable element, I don’t really appreciate this at first impression always, but it does improve my drawings and that is all that matters. Have a great day!
Sorry for taking you out of your element, believe me I know how you feel, but If you don’t want your underdrawing to show up you can draw it lightly in pale blue pencil.
Hey All
@Mr. Moehawk - thanks for the tip on doing the cloth folds earlier. I tried this method just after your post, and I may have overdown it some. So I need to find a good balance now. Regarding the hair by doing the them strand at a time and filling, this didn’t quite fall into place when I was drawing - not sure how to use that method.
Just bear in mind, for all your
tips - I usually can put something up after 48 hours as I already have last nights work to put up.
** i’ve noted your tip of using a blue pencil - I use a red pen for this jobbie, does just as well when I snap it with my digital camera.Anyways - I will work some on the wrist and other muscle groups just to get in the habit - just need to remind myself to study up on this and get in the zone of thinking. To loosely borrow one of Van Gogh remarks - it sure is hard drawing, I feel like I am controlling 100 actors all at once in a play.
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Lil tip
If you are gonna do anatomy study s eg the hand try and fill a page with em i like to try and get 20+ done at time lots of different angles positions. good way is get someone else to move there hand. then you wont try to make it too esy 
(not that i ever do em promise ill do some tomorrow XD ) an try to use less lines too. keep em nice and eh… flowy…
Edit :just so i don’t feel guilty i went and did some today instead
@ fly - you better put those up soon or else! By the way - Da Vinci’s used the same principle as per his sketches - I always wondered why when he was such a good artist even bothered to do . . . until I felt a desperate longing to do this myself. Yes indeed - the next time this craving arises - I will do plenty.
Here’s some of my works in the last few days - I have to conscious remind myself of the rules like use one head-space for shoulders - it’s hard and I learnt this morning when I spend 40 mins on a neat drawing with folds and creases . . . only to discover that the shoulder was all wrong.
The dude with no shirt . . . can’t afford it!
I put colour on these so you can ascertain my level of using colours - I want just black and white images only . . . but to colour something doesn’t take long . . . and some looks better.
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I wouldn,t in the slightest say that you’re over doing it clothes, depending on the material they’re made of, have alot of folds, just look at whatever you are wearing now it probably has 50 + folds.
I
I wouldn,t in the slightest say that you’re over doing it clothes, depending on the material they’re made of, have alot of folds, just look at whatever you are wearing now it probably has 50 + folds.
I’m glad to see the more dynamic shots; whenever you draw a picture for manga, the entire picture is dedicated to relaying information to your viewer. Don’t worry about over doing it.
Even
I wouldn,t in the slightest say that you’re over doing it clothes, depending on the material they’re made of, have alot of folds, just look at whatever you are wearing now it probably has 50 + folds.
I’m glad to see the more dynamic shots; whenever you draw a picture for manga, the entire picture is dedicated to relaying information to your viewer. Don’t worry about over doing it.
Even if you drew a man standing atop a literal mountain of corpses i wouldn’t say you over did it; in fact I’d just say awesome.
Whoah, big mess up, how can I get rid of posts?
@Mr. Moehawk - don’t worry about deleting that post . . . so of us actually like having a lot of posts on their thread (honestly and there will be some controversy on my liking).
Anyways, here’s some more images, I am getting concious of some of the drawing tips these days.
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It’s a useful tip to always carry a ruler with you this way you can make sure your arms are equal lengths. you can also try drawing lines of action. which are the spine of your character (pretty much anyways) this can help you focus on perspective. With the skeleton, revanant whichever you want to call it his clothes carry a sense of material, which is good, but avoid making his arms and legs seem unaturaly poised. Currently his legs seem unnatural (apart from the skeleton part) the same goes for his arms.
If you want a reel natural look take the pose yourself and look in a mirror. Real people are the best reference you can get. This also works for observing clothing folds.
One other note this isn’t neccecary and it’s certainly not a big deal. Although I like the stance your skeleton is currently in; if you want more realistic staces and sword combat references you can always search the web
Make sure to taper the arm as it goes towards the wrist and make the character’s hand large enough to cover his face if fully opened
Thanks Mr. Moehawk - I don’t quite understand what you mean by "Make sure to taper the arm as it goes towards the wrist ". Regarding the ruler idea - I really invest in one. However in 3d when the elbow bends back somewhat, this isn’t always applicable.
Anyways I did this one to get the folds in clothing right, I am quite impressed with the overall results, and also that I am now quite unconciously making folds.
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Looking good!
I do want to add my two cents, though: there is no substitute for an actual drawing class. Whether you’re drawing cardboard boxes or one of the infamous “naked people” classes, you will learn much more drawing from life with the assistance of a professional artist than you can from any book. I’m not saying drawing books are useless (although they generally are in my own experience), but taking drawing classes has been one of the most useful things I’ve ever done. I highly advise you, kbot, and anyone else who’s interested, to look up some drawing classes nearby. There’s probably somewhere not far away where you could take some classes fairly cheap. Believe me, you’ll be glad you did.
Thanks Plantperson - boy you sure gave me a fright when you posted to my one and only decent thread in the BA! Regarding art classes - you are most correct in this. I have major problems getting my anatomy right - Blessed folks like Mr. Moehawk have time and time with infinite patience remarked on this lack on my part. The art classes are mostly in the day time, and quite cheap per session. I will look around for these gems and see if I can get into one close to my area, that suits me.