# Trying My Hand



## Shouden (Aug 18, 2008)

alright. my previous attempts at art have been not so great, but I have idea that I am going to try.

Posting this for tips and support.

My idea comes from my featured submission. simply a wolf laying in the snow, spear sticking up from his side, an eye half open.

This will be a piece I will call "Breath" And we will see how it turns out.

thanks for the support in advance.


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## TitoAmor (Aug 18, 2008)

What exactly do you want help/advice-wise?


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## Shouden (Aug 18, 2008)

just tips mainly


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## Grimfang (Aug 18, 2008)

I just started drawing about a month ago, and I think I've been doing ok. From my limited experience, I know I can share a few things that help me.

1. Especially while learning basics, use references. You can look off of coloring/shading, anatomy, poses. This is the most helpful thing you can do. Some people like to use those poseable, wooden figure things.

2. Don't rush through works. All of mine would like absolutely horrible if I didn't spend an extra 10 minutes on correcting details that looked off. If you know it's not gonna look perfect, then go on. I think it helps a lot to finish a project though, even if you think it looks bad. Afterwards, you can look at a whole picture and see what needs work.

3. Don't feel discouraged if you don't turn out something fantastic. Put it out there, and focus on what you managed to improve. Just keep that up, and you'll feel great about completing one work after another.

Those have been some big things for me. Take or leave what may be useful for you. Hope it helps


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## Shouden (Aug 18, 2008)

it does. thanks.


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## M. LeRenard (Aug 23, 2008)

I find myself improving the most when I just sit down and draw a lot.  Sort of burns the crappiness away if you just go at it for a while.  And if you get confused about how to do a particular something, don't hesitate to do a Google search for an image of what you're trying to do to use as a guide.  You'll probably want to only use references in the beginning, and then ween yourself off of them to get your own style (well, that's what I've been doing, anyway).
Also, when drawing from a reference, it's good to start out with just a real basic outline of the thing you're drawing (I'm talking, like, maybe just a few lightly drawn circles in the right places) before you get into any amount of detail.  It saves a lot of erasing and other kinds of heartache, and makes it a lot easier to proportion things correctly.
And for figure drawing, it's absolutely necessary to draw lots of naked men and women from references if you want them looking realistic.  You might be surprised, but humanoid bodies are pretty tough to grasp, especially if you want interesting poses.  There's a thread somewhere around here with links to art sites, some of which have good anatomy practice; you might think about visiting those.  But the best thing to do is constantly keep at it until it seems to be working.
Also study a few basic techniques for shading (drawing simple shapes seems to be best for this; cones, balls, cylinders, pyramids, the like).  Once you get that down, your art will look good to everybody but the experts.
Anyway, this is all just stuff that I do to get better.  I'm pretty amateur, myself, so don't take what I say as gospel or anything, but it works for me.  Bonne chance.


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## TÃ¦farÃ³s (Aug 23, 2008)

I'm just breaking off from what has already been said (great tips by the way) so draw from life. The shadows and details are right in front of you to mimic at your best. When shading, start light, no matter how dark the shadow is. Shade light all over in one direction, pressing a little bit darker in responding areas. Then build up layers in different directions until you get the right tone. Yay freshman year.


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## Shouden (Aug 23, 2008)

Thanks guys. I will keep those tips in mind. I got the eyes down (or eye in this case) and the nose is right, but now I just have to fit it in with enough room for the spear. But, still  thanks. Note: I am mainly doing this  myself 'cause 1.) I don't want to mooch off of you artists all the time and 2) I figured it would give me practice. Who knows, I might end up drawing my own comics one of  these days.


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