First try - not a drawer at all !

Hi everyone,

I always wanted to learn drawing but never did. I'm watching creative channels on twitch for 2 days now and I decided to try.
I don't know what I like to draw, my style,... :)
I like comics, cartoons, sketches, realistic or not, full body, just faces, animals, everything in fact :p
I don't know how to begin, black/white or colors.
So I just chose a picture in the list and here it is !

time : maybe 2 hours,
tools : 1 eraser and 2 pencils ahahah

I'm waiting for your advices !!

Thanks a lot.

Original : http://hpics.li/1055643
My version : http://hpics.li/89b88c5

Hi Elmigloo!

Welcome to the forum!
And first off I must contradict you. You are a drawer. You took a pencil and drew this portrait. What else can you be?

If this is your first drawing, even if after quite a while, then it is something to be proud of.
What I noticed directly is that you wrote you had been working for 2 hours and using an erasure.
What I would recommend is to make more frequent but short sessions of 30 minutes and to drop the erasure for a while. Make mistakes and look at them, learn from them. (And do it on a regular basis, try to find time for this every day or 3 times a week, like weight lifting, but for different muscles.)
You need to have the courage and passion to proceed down the path you have chosen.
And you have chosen the right path, don't listen to those "nay-sayers" or the little voice in your head.
Stick with pencils for a while if you are comfortable with them. But don't hesitate or forget to switch to another medium (coloured pencils, markers, biros, fountain pens, water colours). Do not stick with pencils, you will be missing out on important lessons you can teach yourself.

If you like, take a look at my progress of the last years on my blog: http://wordslye.com

Happy New Year!

Stu

Thank you so much Stu for the answer.

I made this one yesterday but I have trouble with fingers and shadows. Maybe it was too hard for me, I have to test something easier.
Using color seems to be difficult, I don't want to ruin my sketch :D

Model : http://hpics.li/ea93832
My version : http://hpics.li/f387e3b

Happy New Year !

Elmigloo

Hey everybody,

I have an other draw to show, yeah I have some time to spend :D
Do you have a tutorial for eyes or hair, what's the trick to have a lot of details and realism ?

Model : http://hpics.li/5948e3d
My version : http://hpics.li/3e4f525

See you in 2016 !

Elmigloo

Hi Elmigloo,

Happy New Year!

There are actually quite a few tricks to capture realism and detail (without even needing to be too detailed yourself). It is good to understand the 4 different sorts of shadow (form shadow, shadowline/hump/crest/bridge cast shadow and reflected light). You can practice these with a white ball on your desk with a desk lamp/spotlight.
It's also good to understand that each line creates a story for the observer. Just the slightest bend in the right direction and you can magic up anything you like. Try reducing your lines and see what you get. On a face or figure, planes of the same orientation should be shaded with the same tonal shading (imagine a cube or column when I'm talking about orientation, some planes catch more light than others) (practice drawing a white tube in your desk's lamplight).
The real magic appears when you introduce the reflected light too.

Oh, and the greatest trick of them all is ... practice, practice, practice (there are no short cuts, sorry).

I can promise you this though, if you keep to it on a daily basis, perhaps only 30 minutes a day, especially doing some organised practising, then you will see progress in no time (but please give it a month or two).

Kind regards,
Stu

Hello Elmigloo!

Stu's advice has been wonderful, practice is indeed the key to improve! I'm very impressed by what you've drawn so far, especially considering this is your 'first run'. Keep it up, you're doing great! :D

I'm curious, have you tried drawing gestures at all? They're not refined pieces by any means, but they're wonderful practices that can help you understand the dynamic movements of the human body, as well as help you understand proportions. We've got some handy tutorials on how to use those right here:

https://line-of-action.com/gesture-basics-1-line-of-action/

https://line-of-action.com/gesture-basics-2-torso-and-hips/

https://line-of-action.com/gesture-basics-3-joints/

It's important to note that these are generally drawn in quick succession to force your mind to draw what it sees as quickly as possible. This is important for future improvement! They will end up making fantastic bases to draw full size illustrations on top of later on, so getting these down is only beneficial. :)

Best of luck with your practicing!

Hello Sanne,

Thanks for the comment. No I've never tried drawing gestures, like I said, it was my first time. Portrait or full body, everything is new for me that's why I don't really know how to proceed with shadows or details.

Here's a drawing I made last week.

Model : http://hpics.li/0fcfa13
My version : http://hpics.li/f514ac3

I didn't draw this week but I have some time to practice today and tomorrow.
30 minutes per day seems to be the best way to progress, that's my new objectve, I'll let you know if I see an evolution ;)

Thanks again
Elmigloo