Advice Needed For Art Style!

[Sieza]

Hi everyone!

I've been a little nervous to ask, but really I don't have anyone to talk to. I am a self taught artist. I have always had to learn and experiment with my style on my own. My comic was originally a long novel with pictures on the side. So onto the topic... I love my style. It's something that I think it's special about me as a person. I was wondering what I could do to improve my style. From the first chapter to the most recent I can see improvements, but they aren't good enough for me! My problem might also be that I working on a glitchy program (Manga Studio 4) on a laptop with a Monoprice pad that barely works! Also, I tend to focus more on the story rather than glorify the art. I want it to look childish, but polished. I know something is missing, but I can't quite figure it out. XD I would love some advice on how to grow even if I just see it as a REALLY dedicated hobby! Thank you!

Here is my latest work: https://tapas.io/episode/803835

[dawgofdawgness]

Your art is really adorable! And I love the uniqueness of it.
I'm deeefinitely not a professional but I'd love to try and help other self taught artists
1) experiment with line pressure. From what I can tell the lineart is one size the whole way through, and there aren't any signs of pressure. There's nothing wrong with that, but it would be a good idea to see what line pressure could bring to your art.

2)"Color theory" ok I don't know squat about this one, but there are some other really great comics you can check out for good colors that work together. The only advice I can give you right now is to not use super saturated colors. You should try to lead the eye to the main point ^^

3)Try mixing it up a little. A lot of your characters look similar (circle head, same eyes, no distinguishing facial features), and it can be hard to tell them apart. It might be a good idea to experiment with appearances.

That's all I got so far. Good luck to you and your comic ^_^

[Trijucre]

Hi !
I've checked your comic, and it's really readable and clean, congrats !
The main problem I have with it is the colors. I think you use too saturated colors which deserve your comic. So, maybe you could try to learn some color theory ?
Here's a pretty cool video if you want to work on that

[Sieza]

Thank you @dawgofdawgness and @Zooplankton! I'm going to be honest with you, I had no clue that line pressure or color theory even existed! Thank you so much for the advice and the video! I will definitely start looking into it and imply it into my style!

[joe_galindez]

I'm a writer by trade but my dad was a cartoonist as well as a writer and there was a point when I almost followed in that particular set of footsteps. Anyway, my advice is to get as much classical training as you can. You may prefer a more cartoonish style, but the more you know how to draw real faces and bodies the better you will be at caricaturing them.

I look forward to seeing more of your work.

[dawgofdawgness]

Exactly
Learn to follow the rules before you break em!

[Sieza]

Thank you for the advice! I've never really tried drawing realistically. I should probably start there!

[revisionstudios]

Definitely going to echo the others here a bit and say that you need to start with some fundamentals! Try drawing objects around you realistically, maybe look up guides for drawing faces or stock photos of things you want to practice. If you find it difficult, try breaking the image down into basic shapes (circles, rectangles, etc.) and then add details over it.

Aside from fundamental stuff, something that strikes me about your style is that everyone is drawn from a template. Everyone has the same face shape, nose, eyes, mouth, body shape... you just vary the colors, clothes, and the hair style to create new characters instead of drawing them like individual people. For stylistic purposes, I would definitely try branching out with other kinds of character design.

[zigmenthotep]

You need to practice the fundamentals, there's a reason everyone says that. Drawing circles and boxes and drawing out orthogonals is boring but it's the only way to learn structure. And structure is essentially what separates flat-looking art from that which has depth. Essentially you need to think about the things you're drawing as three-dimensional objects, then you can draw them as such. Also put thought into why things look the way they do, like I don't get what's going on with your characters' eyes most of the time.
Also look at what you have, note what you do a lot, do less of that. Like I noticed that the vast majority of characters are front-facing, and a lot of back and forth front-facing panels during dialogue. Also, you seem to be getting better at this, but don't hide hands to avoid drawing them, it's obvious. Just work on hands in general, I noticed at least one instance of a character having a thumb on the wrong side of their hand (unless that character is supposed to have backwards hands).

In summary: you need to do all the difficult boring stuff that makes you a better artist.

[Sieza]

Thank you @revisionstudios and @zigmenthotep! I have always struggled with hands in general. I was always told they looked like "chicken wings" so I used to avoid and hide them. Recently, I have put that behind me and have focused on them, but I struggle with the finger size quite often. I want them to be big to match the head size. Do you have any recommendations for working on the shapes of my heads as well? I've really always worked with a circle and never really imagined any other shape! Appreciate it!

[Masterman]

I love my style. It's something that I think it's special about me as a person. I was wondering what I could do to improve my style.

Style is totally trustworthy; you couldn't get rid of your style even if you tried. So, as you look at news ways to do things, don't worry about losing what you already value about your work. If anything, more ability will let you hew closer to the authentic personality that your style communicates.

The answers here are all correct: drawing is simply the basics, over and over again until you perfect them. There's no higher level teaching that you get to when you are super awesome, just a deeper, more subtle understanding of those same basics. Here's my short list of essential skills:

Perspective: Linear, Proportional, Foreshortening, Point of View control

Anatomy: Human Structure, Movement Dynamics

Acting: Facial Expressions, Body Language, Choice of Moment

Color: Color Theory, Light and Shadow

That's it; doing those things well is basically all there is to it.

[revisionstudios]

Try combining shapes instead of just relying on a circle!

I drew up this example that uses a circle and a triangle. Now, it's still pretty stylized, but I think simple is good for you right now. You can make the triangle into different shapes (rectangle, trapezoid, etc.) to get a different chin/jaw structure.

[Sieza]

Thank you! This is what I was looking for!

[KoreanTacos]

Not to sound like a jerk, but perhaps learning and practicing under someone else would be beneficial. When I was concerned about my art in my comic I started researching different YouTube tutorials and how to books to better improve myself while still maintaining my own artistic identity. Education truly is the method of advancement and there's a lot of good sources on the internet.

[Sieza]

Oh no your right! I've always wanted help, but I really don't have any. I might take some drawing classes my next semester to help me out. Thank you!

[joe_galindez]

"Don't be fooled by their disguise. These are the shapes we are looking for."

"Oh no," says the triangle. "We've been found out."

The face falls apart and a chase begins.