# how to improve...?



## LemonLime (Apr 14, 2017)

hi, guys! i'm brand new to drawing anthro and i find myself struggling with it a lot. 
i've grown used to a cartoony style that basically only looks decent on humans... 
any tips for getting better? just lots of practice, trying realistic drawings of animals, etc.? let me know!


----------



## AlleycatIrony (Apr 14, 2017)

honestly i say just lots of practice! looking at plenty of references is a good thing too, same w/ tutorials for things like colouring! 
it's also good to find artists ur inspired by to try and give u that, well, inspiration for coming up w/ ur own individual drawing style c:


----------



## LemonLime (Apr 14, 2017)

AlleycatIrony said:


> honestly i say just lots of practice! looking at plenty of references is a good thing too, same w/ tutorials for things like colouring!
> it's also good to find artists ur inspired by to try and give u that, well, inspiration for coming up w/ ur own individual drawing style c:


lots of practice, refs, and art inspiration! all good advice. thank you so much! ;v;


----------



## Kezi Avdiivka (Apr 14, 2017)

Nootropics for Creativity | Nootropics Hacks drugs

lots and lots of drugs


----------



## LemonLime (Apr 14, 2017)

Kezi Avdiivka said:


> Nootropics for Creativity | Nootropics Hacks drugs
> 
> lots and lots of drugs


✓ noted


----------



## Casey Fluffbat (Apr 14, 2017)

What I did is I tried translating all of the features of the animal to a humanoid body. It will look kind of stupid, but take a process of elimination until it looks good to you.


----------



## LemonLime (Apr 14, 2017)

MadKiyo said:


> What I did is I tried translating all of the features of the animal to a humanoid body. It will look kind of stupid, but take a process of elimination until it looks good to you.


ohh i'll have to try this! thank you!


----------



## IncubusZenith (Apr 14, 2017)

As an anime artist, I used the basic same structure I did for people, and then built animal features around it?? If that makes sense. 
Using references is always the best way to improve, for ANYTHING. And LOTS of practice, even small doodles count as practice.


----------



## LemonLime (Apr 14, 2017)

IncubusZenith said:


> As an anime artist, I used the basic same structure I did for people, and then built animal features around it?? If that makes sense.
> Using references is always the best way to improve, for ANYTHING. And LOTS of practice, even small doodles count as practice.


it makes sense! i think that's what i'm going to practice trying to do, building the features around a humanoid body. thank you!


----------



## Doodle Bunny (Apr 15, 2017)

I think someone mentioned this, but humans and a lot of other animals have a lot of the same bones, just proportioned and positioned in different ways. The key bones to look out for is the skull, rib-cage, and pelvis to start.

Also, reference will be your best friend. Whenever I have to draw a new animal, I always look it up on google images and try to draw some likenesses. If you have the time and funds, I also recommend visiting the zoo and sketching live animals.

A great site for gesture drawing is here: line-of-action.com: Animal Drawing Practice Tool For Artists of All Levels

An artist who does amazing animal tutorials among other art tutorials: www.youtube.com: The Art of Aaron Blaise

I hope this was helpful to you.


----------



## LemonLime (Apr 15, 2017)

Doodle Bunny said:


> I think someone mentioned this, but humans and a lot of other animals have a lot of the same bones, just proportioned and positioned in different ways. The key bones to look out for is the skull, rib-cage, and pelvis to start.
> 
> Also, reference will be your best friend. Whenever I have to draw a new animal, I always look it up on google images and try to draw some likenesses. If you have the time and funds, I also recommend visiting the zoo and sketching live animals.
> 
> ...


oh wow these are really helpful tips! thank you for such a detailed response!


----------



## Zeitzbach (Apr 16, 2017)

Beside drawing alot? There's not much else to say, really since there's no real shortcut to improvement, only time and effort.

But one thing I will have to mention though, is that artists do not just grow like a small curve going up overtime. They actually slowly improve before they struggle with a very steep learning curve that if they can overcome, will just have them skyrocket to the next level before they repeat the same struggle.

What you want while you are drawing and studying, is to find something that really "Push your button". Some kind tips, trick or a method that you start to realize as you draw that "Hey, I love doing this and I should do this way more often because it makes my piece look much better!" Always look out for that and when you start piling them on top of each other, as long as they stack, you will start noticing a sudden growth and improvement in just a few days compared to what you have been doing the few past months.

Find the artist you like, look at their stuffs, try to copy their tricks and understand how they draw something.

KNKL says it pretty well. We might as well be art thieves where instead of outright stealing pieces we like, we steal the techniques and their color palettes and learn to apply them in our own pieces.


----------



## spacerogue (Apr 18, 2017)

Also lets not forget everything is build on fundamentals, if you want to draw cartoony I'd still highly suggest to get a grip on realism and just chew your way trough the fundies, you dont even have to be good at realism for it to be beneficial. Once you have the fundies down there isn't much you wont be able to draw tbh.  

Getting Started: Tutorials for Beginners - YouTube


----------



## Pipistrele (Apr 18, 2017)

Some good books on aforementioned fundamentals will help significantly, I'll say. Andrew Loomis is a good place to start, his books have gradual progression and lots of useful information. Of course, studying all that information is a grind in itself, but you'll learn a crapton of useful tricks and skills to apply that to your anthros. In general, it's a good idea to ocasionally re-learn stuff here and there, even if you're capable enough to draw a thing or two decently - there are many artists who went on the whole new level with proper studying after years of drawing cutesy animes and sanics.


----------

