First digital drawing please give me some feedback

[LittleBlueberryCake]

Hey guys~~
I just finished my first ever digital linework drawing.
Any constructive criticism for me?
(Please keep in mind that this is my first time actually drawing besides some doodles in school so I'm really not good at it)
I did use a lot of references to finish the drawing so I hope it isn't totally bad.

Further, if you could give me tips on how to colour I would appreciate it.

Oh and if anyone is interested in finishing the picture for me with colours and stuff please feel free the more the better it would help me see what I could do and what I did wrong (If you do please let me know what colours you used so I can follow the general idea and get a better understanding of colouring)

[sc101]

Not bad but this would count for a draft. Working in layers is easier in digital art and I think most people prefer it. Keep making improvements in layers so that the final inking is smooth.
May I know what program you use and if you use a drawing tablet?

[Kaydreamer]

This is really good, given it's your first try! You have a lot of detail in there, and everything looks balanced and proportionate. The character has a gentleness about them which I really like.

Are you using a drawing tablet, or an iPad with the Apple Pencil? If yes to either, I'd suggest setting your lineart brush to respond to pen pressure. That will allow it to change size, depending on how heavy you press. Lineart with some variation in width along each stroke usually looks better than lineart which is the same width the whole way along.

If you're using a mouse, firstly - WOW, secondly - get a cheap drawing tablet, it makes everything SO much easier.

[DualDragons]

Hey, that looks pretty good for your first digital drawing!

One thing I would recommend is the use of layers. I see some overlapping lines through the hair which you could erase, and by using multiple layers to draw your lineart the erasing of lines can be a bit easier as it won't affect your other lines.

[Koneko-chan-hai]

I think that is a good start with the lineart, since the figure is quite clear and there aren't too many redrawn lines. To improve it, I would suggest you to erase some of the lines that go over the shapes, like with the side bangs and the clothes or the belt. Also, next time you could try to draw bits of the lineart in one single stroke, since it will make the line smoother and much cleaner. It might take longer since it takes a bit to get used to making one single motion and you would need to undo the lines over and over again, but the end result will be worth it!

[LittleBlueberryCake]

Thank you I wanted to try a drawing of one of my main characters and I think if you said he had a gentleness around him I managed to capture the idea.
I bought a cheap drawing tablet and that's what I used to draw this. But since I'm not familiar with brushes and stuff I'm not sure what would look good for lines so I just found one that drew an easy straight black line and used that but I do agree, one that swings and reacts to the pressure sensitivity would probably be better.

[LittleBlueberryCake]

Oh? I wasn't aware that it was still a draft but I will definitly continue trying to improve.
I'm using Krita and a drawing trablet any tips your be appriciated.

Thank you for the feedback

[LittleBlueberryCake]

I tried using layers but I always forget I have them then start drawing on the wrong layer and do like most of the lines and then remember I'm on the wrong layer so I ended up with everything mix together on all the layers so I got really confused but I think this is something I can improve over time by getting more comfortable with the program

[LittleBlueberryCake]

I tryed doing the lines in one strock as much as possible since I heard about that before but I'm super insecure about my faces, hairs and hands so I always go back to smaller strockes to feel more assured.
I will do my best to improve on that part and be more confident about drawing my lines in one go~

[sc101]

I'm sorry for being so blunt there. The lines are a bit shaky and overlapping. Layers and the stabilizer function will help a lot with that. I'd suggest looking up David Revoy's videos. He does great work and is one of the contributors for krita. Also did you go straight with the pen you used.
I find using a softer pencil to make the general shapes and then making sharper lines layer by layer helps. You can use the lower layers as a guide and reduce those lawyers' opacity and maybe change the color of the lining for help.
You are doing pretty well so a few tries will probably get you used to drawing digitally. With the colours basic color theory and figuring the lighting generally helps.

David Revoy's site also has free brush presets and templates for download. His 25 brushes pack is .
But depending on the version of krita you have, his brushes might already be available with the program.

[SkittishSmile]

Congrats on your first foray into digital art! I found the transition quite hard but ultimately worth it, you're off to a great start! I'm honestly impressed that this is your first piece. The overall composition is quite good, and those hands! You do quite well on a lot of common stumbling blocks (face symmetry, hands, proportions). I'll give a few suggestions but you should definitely be proud of your work!

There are a couple subtle things with the pose I would change, the left arm is too long (if you try holding something in front of your chest like he is, you'll see that your elbow naturally rests quite close to your side, if you move the elbow joint closer to his side and shorten the arm it will look more natural). Also the right sleeve looks a little off. Fabric is super hard to draw, and you've handled this billowing fabric quite well overall. My tip for this would be to consider where the arm is in the sleeve (even draw a rough sketch in a different layer to visualize). The way clothing hangs depends on what's underneath it. So for example these sorts of sleeves would probably be quite heavy, so you'd expect them to hug the top of the silhouette pretty tightly but hand down loosely below. I'm glad to hear you're already using references, they are your friend and can help tremendously!

I will second what others say about the lineart, you want a brush with pressure sensitivity! It makes your work look way better without you really needing to do much different! I've never used Krita before, but looking at their brush page: https://docs.krita.org/en/reference_manual/krita_4_preset_bundle.html the basic 5- Size default would do the trick. You want something that changes the size of your brush with pressure, but not the opacity for inking. Ideally pressure sensitivity works right off the bat in a program but sometimes you need to check settings for the program and your tablet. Also as sc101 says, pens will have a stability setting, which will automatically help make your lines cleaner. This isn't cheating, getting the tablet to respond to you properly can take some tweaking!

Making accurate clean lines is the hardest part of art (for me at least) so don't be discouraged that it isn't perfect! Making longer lines in a single stroke right off the bat is the right way to do this. It's painful and difficult to do, but you'll get a feeling for it, and it's better to avoid developing bad habits you have to break (I did micro overlapping lines for so long and it just... didn't look good haha). Keep up the good work!

[Koneko-chan-hai]

Yeah, I get the insecurity for smaller areas like the face. Something that I do is that I do one line for one whole cheek, and then I follow it up with another smooth one for the forehead and so on. With the hair I try to draw my lines according to where the stress is, or how it would realistically flow. In general, look at your sketch and try to think about where you can break up the drawing in different lines and where you can clearly see a constant curve. I hope that helps!

[LittleBlueberryCake]

Don't be sorry for being blunt~ that exactly why I uploaded this since I have no idea what I'm doing and criticisms helps me more than well-meant reviews.
I did like four-five different drawings with a softer pen first since I saw that somewhere and it really helped but then when I got to the lines I started feeling insecure and I wasn't sure about how to divide layers and what to do with them exactly other than having my sketches on one and my lines on another but I started looking at some tutorials about layers and I'm now trying to use them more.
I will definitely look up David Rovoy thank you for the tip.

I will look up colour theory since I'm pretty sure the last time I heard that was in fifth grade drawing class and light is something I will need to watch tutorials on but I hope I can do good after taking some time with that

Thank you so much for the tip again~ I will look into those brushes and hopefully find one that works for the lines so they look better~~

[LittleBlueberryCake]

First of all, thank you~
I used a lot of references and for the hands, I just looked up pictures of hands I like and mostly copied the shapes before finishing off with a few lines I commonly see in drawings since I feel no confidence in drawing hands it is mostly copying and refining pictures I found.
For the face symmetry, I found tutorials that use a circle and then guidelines within and around that circle and that helped amazingly especially since I didn't build up the character from the inside but found a pose I liked copied that and then drew the character inside that pose because I don't think I would be able to get the proportions right if I did it the other way round.
The thing about the arm getting shorter I found out about that today in a tutorial I watched about something called foreshortening (Not sure if that's written right) but I will have to go into that a lot more before I really understand it since it is a little weird. Thank you for pointing that out because I didn't realize it and have a lot of trouble with the whole idea.
as for the fabric, I have no idea how it works I just look at other drawings with similar poses and similar clothing and mostly copied the creases so I will once again have to look into that but I will definitely try out your tip with drawing in the arm first to find out where the folds would go.

The line art and the need for the right brush is something I did research yesterday since a lot of people mentioned it. Thank you for the tip with the brush I will try it out and I will use the stabilizer to get better lines~ It might take some time to fully understand what is going on since the program has so many ideas but I saw some basic tutorials so it is easier to understand but digital art is really something you need to get into and research since there are so many small tips and trick out there that make things so much easier~

Thank you for the encouragement and I will definitely take the advice to heart and work on make longer lines~

[LittleBlueberryCake]

I'm not sure what stress means in this situation but the reast I do understand so I will try and follow that idea~

Maybe the next try looks better~~

[LittleBlueberryCake]

I took everything into consideration and did another linework try hope this is a little better

[SkittishSmile]

Keep at it! I think there are some nice improvements here, the left hand looks very nice to me, and this brush looks less pixelated and shaky. The more you do it the easier it will get. It's great you're watching a lot of tutorials and trying to improve quickly, just don't overwhelm yourself! The point of art is to be fun after all, so if you're getting bogged down by all the rules, take it slow. Same with color. There are rules and guides, but just exploring and expressing your character, and you will start to learn that basics and what you need to improve. Better to draw something "bad" but get experience and enjoyment, then perpetually waiting until you're "good enough". Happy Drawing!

[Legendofgenii]

This looks good - to say it's your first digital drawing too.

Mine didn't look this good.

Just keep practicing and you'll get better and better.