CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

Can someone PLEASE help me with drawing? I've tried books, online tutorials, the works, but nothing is helping...plus I have zero talent. Anything that can help make drawing easier will be appreciated.

No links to tutorials please, I've been to them all.

Rai

Sounds like you really want to unleash your powers Raiden no Kishi

I assume you mean drawing as in anime style drawing. Hmm, I don't know the best thing to tell you, for I am still learning myself. But I remember someone saying something about tracing or copying. I guess it helps you get the "feel" of it.

Also, instead of drawing an entire figure, you might wanna break it down into parts. For instance, focus on drawing the head. Or you could break it down further and focus on just eyes. I know I've been having to do that recently >_< Just tackle it little by little.

That's all I can tell ya pal. If its something you really wany to do just keep at it. I think I still stink at drawing anime characters a little bit, but I'm not giving up until I get where I want to be!

I'd unleash my powers if I had any. ::angst::

Rai

Aww! Everyone has talent, they jsut need to unleash it~! ^o^ Mwehehee~ ^__^
I agree with Golden_Griff though, you could try drawing certain parts at a time. At leats that's how I do it. Though I'm not to good at drawing myself, but I tend to draw the parts I have the most difficulty with.
There are also many anime styles to draw. What kind of style are you focusing on?
Also, what have you tried drawing? Pose? Style?
Well, I don't know much else to say. ^o^ Just practice, and I'm sure you draw beautifully! ^^

a just in general art tip, that also helps with anime style art, is breaking it down into the basic shapes. practice with reflective objects - anything that you see as different colors or shapes, draw just that shape, then the one next to it, and the one after that, and so on. according to my high school art instructor, doing this rather than drawing an outline, and filling it in, prevents distortion. and if i didn't make what i was trying to say very clear, in a few days, when i am home, i have some drawings i did of reflective objects, that i can scan and attach. if that would help. starting with the basics always helps, rather than trying to jump into more complicated artforms, especially the human figure, which is probably one of the most complicated things to draw. and breaking things down into little tiny pieces, working on how you do each tiny piece helps quite a bit. but most of all, don't ever get down on yourself about what you think your artistic skills are. and if it would help, posting what you are doing so we can tell you where to go from where you are, might be an idea. or if you are uncomfortable with doing that, emailing it to someone who you don't mind helping out. good luck.

Don't try to draw the entire picture all at once. Start small and draw a lot. Practice is the only way you will build talent, especially if you are not blessed with any kind of innate ability.

Another tip - copy other people's work. It's a good way to learn a style and gain understanding of how to draw faces and expressions. I'm at this stage, myself. I can do a fairly good job of replicating other people's work, but I'm not very good at drawing on my own, yet. Even if you do this, start small. Draw one feature at a time.

You know what's a good tip for drawing? TRACING! yup! you get a feel for drawing that way. It seems like it's cheating, just don't pass off the work as your own.
And yup, basic shapes, it's all been said...
For general human bodies, for manga or otherwise, I highly recommend Burne Hogarth's Dynamic drawing series. You can find one in just about any library. (and keep renewing it and renewing it and renewing it...)

You know what's a good tip for drawing? TRACING! yup! you get a feel for drawing that way. It seems like it's cheating, just don't pass off the work as your own.
And yup, basic shapes, it's all been said...

That's absolutely right. ^^ Not saying I'm the best artist...but I learned alot that way. And to be honest, art isn't a talent that just pops up suddenly. It takes years of practice, whether you're talented or not. My former art teacher was told by all her teachers that she couldn't draw a thing, and now she's awesome at it.
You just have to practice every day and finish everything you do, no matter how bad it looks. Art is all about creativity, but more importantly: perserverance.

Madeline wrote:That's absolutely right. ^^ Not saying I'm the best artist...but I learned alot that way. And to be honest, art isn't a talent that just pops up suddenly. It takes years of practice, whether you're talented or not. My former art teacher was told by all her teachers that she couldn't draw a thing, and now she's awesome at it.
You just have to practice every day and finish everything you do, no matter how bad it looks. Art is all about creativity, but more importantly: perserverance.

I agree with that. Even though I've been drawing since I was able to hold a pencil, and although people in my community admire me for my artwork as if it's a natural super-power, I still feel like I have to practice at this stuff. I drew a picture this morning. I'm not satisfied with it because the body doesn't look right. But hey, at least the face looks good. And that, my friend, is because I went back to a few tutorials and did some more practicing

I never really trace stuff because, besides the fact that I thought it was cheating , I used to think that it didn't really help. But since others say it does I'll try it out too.

I'm still learning how to be the artist that I want to be. The more I draw, the better I get at it (I like to think). But of course there's always room for improvement.

Now, the part about finishing everything I do...well, um...*ahem* Unfortunately some things end up in the wastecan before they're completed

oops....I missed this one. Raiden, this is my long due response to your PM.

First off, I've been drawing eversince I was like ...4-5 years old? I also draw almost everyday. Hopefully, that gives you an idea of how much practice was involved to reach the point where I am at the moment. It is vital.

In the beginning stages, I trace and copy ppl's stuff a lot. There's nothing to be ashamed for it, IMO. It helped me greatly and I strongly recommend it. You'll eventually learn to create your own stuff as you progress.

One last thought: Do post what you draw. Do you already have an art thread/section? If so, eh...can you direct us to it? The art stuff in CAA has become quite scattered and it's difficult to track down ppl's stuff anymore. If not, pls do coz I can't really help if I have no idea how you're drawing at the moment. oh yeah, if you want constructive critiques from me in your art thread, let me know (PM?) and we'll work from there, OK? ^_^

Not much I can say that others haven't already told you: practice practice practice -even if it's a little annoying, as well as tracing which can be helpful.
But you can even start off simple if you like -e.g maybe you can try creating your own simple art style and then just keep adding it. Look at the smilie! All it they are are a two eyes and a mouth, mostly, but they look cool. So even if you just start with a circle, add first of all, eyes (long black ones like capital I's or small dots, or even those big circles with the black pupils in the middle), ears (triangle cat ears, no ears, other ears...), maybe hair (spikey? Striped?) and perhaps a crazy expression or even just a normal smile e.g e.g. Dunno if that interests you or not, but I hope it helps.

the way i learned...join an oekaki board. members can give you suggestions and support on what you need to work on. also you can watch other peoples animation and figuire out what exactly you should do next time.

stare at other peoples style, learn now they draw. it takes awhile...ive been drawing recreationally for almost my whole life...but only until the past 3 years have i gotten serious with it. (before that...it was REALLY BAD artwork...i just drew cuz it was fun.)

you also have to have a real passion for it. if you get bored of drawing...then it really wont get you anywhere. sure...everyone of us has our days where we CANT draw...but passion is a real key to sticking with it. if you have the passion, then youll get where you want to be. =D

You know what I've started doing recently? Drawing on an erasable white board. You should get one of those and some nice erasable (the finer the point the better) markers for it.
It is GREAT for learning to draw muscles, hands, ect.!

Shipuh wrote:(before that...it was REALLY BAD artwork...i just drew cuz it was fun.)

you also have to have a real passion for it. if you get bored of drawing...then it really wont get you anywhere. sure...everyone of us has our days where we CANT draw...but passion is a real key to sticking with it. if you have the passion, then youll get where you want to be. =D

::snaps fingers:: You've hit it. I just don't care enough.

Drawing "just 'cause it's fun" doesn't work, since I'm an unbreakable perfectionist (almost, if I'm tired or hungry or angry enough, I stop caring about perfection...temporarily.).

I just don't have the passion for art that will keep me drawing even when I'm so disgusted that I'd rather stab myself with the pencil than draw with it. Shoot, I haven't even had the passion to pick the darned thing up for a while. I can't stand spinning my wheels. If I can't see myself going somewhere, I don't bother. I can copy stuff, but in the end, all I see is someone else's picture recreated rather sloppily.

I suppose I'm not fit to be an artist. Maybe that's why I can't feel excited enough to try to draw again. Maybe God's telling me to stop caring about art. I dunno.

Rai

EDIT: I suppose I could give it another shot...I don't really draw with a purpose, just random drawings, trying to work it out until something looks right. (It rarely does). So, if I post anything, it'll be sketch sheets full of random crap. Might try that later today...

The way to get better at something is to keep doing it over and over again. Take a notebook or a pad of paper with you wherever you go and just doodle whatever comes to your mind. Believe me, this will help you a lot.
Also, what I found most helpful was watching cartoons @_@ not just anime, but all types of cartoons! Study the different characters and see what makes them unique! This will give you some ideas on the type of characters you would like to draw and establish as your own! Comic books help as well.
Keep all of your old art! I know it's weird, but this really helps immensely! You can see how much you've improved over just a few months or even years!

I've just got into drawing. Have HATED to draw until last year, then I thought it were fun . Like you, I'm a perfectionist, and often I don't think what I draw is good enough. I've copied 3 pictures/drawings that I really think was good enough through last year :p
But if you just give up because it don't work in the beginning, you get nowhere. It's like this with everything. You never (almost) start being good right away. Often when you feel like you fail over and over again, you lose the spirit, but don't give up anyway
And have you uploaded anything yet?

Take a college level drawing class. It will be beneficial in two, maybe three ways. One, it will FORCE you to practice unless you don't care if you fail the class. Two, you will have a teacher, (hopefully a good teacher, you might need to a take a few classes otherwise) who can look at your work and answer your needs directly. Three, well, if you're not sure whether you even like art, you should know after a few classes...

Well, I can't do that now, but I will look into it in college.

I think I've reached a breakthrough. I'll be posting it in Testimonies, since it applies beyond drawing.

Rai

Well, it's been 12 days, so...

For those of you who asked, I now have a meager art thread and deviantART account.

The thread is, predictably, in the Art Corner.

The dA account is:
raiden-no-kishi.deviantart.com

Rai