Bummed Out In Style Needing Help

[Zanuark 5]

I've been inactive for a while due to embaressment with drawings. I love to draw alot, in class, in a cafe, a plane, camping, you name it. Little more background info... I started interest in 2009 and stopped improving in 2011-2012-ish. My main style has been anime and mlp fim combined for about 3 years now. I need to know if any viewers have some advice with the sketch penciles and color pencils. So please, if anyone can show a few step by step photos or a link to a video, thanks. Later I'll show some pics that my goal of drawing skill wants to reach by 2014. So go ahead and shed so me advice.

[GrooveBroove 680]

Well judging from your Avatar you already draw leagues better than most people I know lol.

Anyway a lot of drawing from my experience and some people I know really just comes down to yourself trying new things.

It's not bad to trace or copy images to get a feel for what can help you improve. Though obviously you don't want to do either of those things and try to get 100% credit for you work.

 

Anyway I have some friends who have Art degrees so i'll see if I can get some better tips for you.

(Just PM me so I remember)

[Zanuark 5]

Since I cant upload anything right now, I'll leave links to them. (they represent the goal of my drawing skill to reach) 1) www.fanpop.com/clubs/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/images/30927797/title/princess-luna-fanart and the other drawing is at 14-bis.com/art/Princess-Celestia-257003506 this is around the area in drawing skill that I want to get to.

[SkyBound 825]

Though I cannot offer any videos or pictures at the moment, I do hope I can help you in some way.  I can certainly empathize with you in low confidence in your abilities, as I was plagued with such worries not too long ago.  I pick up the pencil about a year ago and I have been trying ever since to improve in anyway I can.  Though I am always anxious about what others may say about my work, I am always grateful for what advice they may offer me.

 

Embarrassment is a common bane that afflicts many who try to draw or attempt any form of art, but it is something you must overcome.  Because it is by sharing your artistic endeavors with others will you be able to grow the most. That would be my first bit of advice: show others your work.  A fresh perspective on your drawings can help immensely, as others are can much more easily point out areas that need rethinking or offer constructive criticism that will help you in future projects.

 

Another aspect that I offer to you to consider is to gain a basic knowledge of anatomy, both human and animal.  Such knowledge is invaluable to a budding artist, for it gives you a solid and real structure for you to work from.  Once such concepts are understood, a new dynamic to your work will open up; almost any pose you can imagine will become easier to understand and draw, more options for more appealing compositions.   Once you know the rules, it makes it that much easier the bend them to your will.

 

On these same lines, life drawing is also an asset that should not be neglected.  Draw anything and everything you can.  It is good that you are drawing while you are out, so use this to your advantage.  By drawing a more diverse arrangement of subjects, you expand your repertoire and capabilities in what you can draw.  It is also a great way to begin understanding shading as well.

 

One last thing that I can not stress enough is patience and practice, both of which go together.  Though it may be a bit stressful at times when you do not feel you are succeeding, you cannot allow yourself to give up.  It will seem as though you are progressing slowly at first, but as you begin to practice more, you find previously difficult problems easier to overcome and there is nowhere to go but up from there.

 

I know that I have given you a literal way of text, and I do apologize sincerely if this not the type of advice you were looking for.  Self improvement in any field can be a long and often demoralizing journey, but if you are willing to weather these small trials, then it will be worth it in the end.  Keep you head up high and keep moving forward, and do not be afraid to take that next, new step.  And remember that the journey is always made easier with friends by your side to help you along the way.

[Zanuark 5]

Thanks SkyBound. I do show drawings I make to peers like you said. But I never thought of it the way you described it in paragraph 4 is something I never thought of using real life stuff would help me in drawing. I'll try what you said with drawing reality and see how it turns out.