How do I improve my art?

[mountainwolves]

Study the process of the artists you admire. Also, do a lot of effective practice on proportions and compositions as they are the basis of good art.

[redfish]

tracing can be a great way to learn how people structure anatomy and proportions. Break someone's character drawing down into pieces!

Of course, just for practice and not to publish as your own aha

[IzzyBloom91]

The way I learned to draw is by drawing my favorite anime characters and later to pose them in position that I wanted. This was a good way to figure out anatomy and positioning. But the reality is, if you just draw frequently, you will improve within time.

[darthmongoose]

Perhaps you can make use of my tutorial hoard! I uh.... collect tutorials on pinterest and have amassed quite a collection here on all sorts of things like anatomy, faces and colour in a variety of styles (since most styles have a lot of crossover in terms of the basics.

Right now, your line quality is good, so that's a good start, nice and neat, but the main area you need to work on is using your lines to create a sense of mass and volume so that the figures feel like they're three dimensional.

I wouldn't recommend tracing for you, because tracing is more useful for people with poor pen control, whose lines aren't going where they want, and your lines are actually pretty clean and confident. The thing I would prescribe you is doing lots of quick anatomical sketches. Get a sketchpad or have a big digital canvas and try to do a bunch of anatomical sketches of people in different poses at least a couple of times a week. Don't worry about being messy; you don't have to show anyone your sketches (you can if you want though). The people can be clothed, unclothed or a mixture. You can draw from photos or life if you like, or try to draw a character in the style of an artist you like but in a new pose by looking at many drawings of that character from different angles for proportion reference. Doing a mixture is good too!

[Lensing]

What helped me the most, beside drawing every day,
was understanding perspective and shapes in perspective and
that everyone constructs their characters with basic shapes and
that everything can be broken down into basic shapes.

A first step is to break down the characters that you drew into simple
shapes, they don´t have to be in perspective right away, just draw a shape
for the ribcage like an egg, the pelvis like they are wearing underpants,
head with a circle plus a wedge, arms, legs. This will already make
your life way easier (I hope)

Like this

[godfrey_narcisso]

By drawing a lot while constantly being mindful on what you're doing. Don't just draw as if you're on a quota and don't do it in autopilot. Be intentional and deliberate on the elements you want to improve on while drawing. I know it sounds simple but in my personal experience, I only began noticing gradual improvements on my work when I started doing this.

[Lev404]

Bro that is a huge improvement, imma do that course rn lol

[Sethstiel]

RIIIGHT??? HAHAHHAAHAHAH

[JoshRaid]

I'll try that when I have any money.

[Sethstiel]

For new Udemy members, this course is 4 dolars

[JoshRaid]

I signed up and it still says either 30 dollars a month or 130 dollars overall.

[Sethstiel]

Whatttt~
I literally bought it for 4 dolars

Have u used Udemy before??

[JoshRaid]

Not that I can remember. I know I just signed up earlier today, and if I hadn't I would have been told that the account was already registered.

[Chocolate]

It’s good that you’re trying to develop your own style now! If you’re REALLY struggling with poses and action; try to download models from MagicPoser. The 3-D render helps with dynamic angle. However, the model could possibly prevent you from developing your own art style because the bodies are generic. I say the 3-D models are good for practice; but it’s not so good if you have specific designs for certain characters.

[JoshRaid]

Yeah I've done drawings with a 3D poser reference and it completely changes my art style. And I tried using one for the guy in the hoodie so I could pose his leg properly, but I couldn't get one to actually match his body type.

[darthmongoose]

My advice is to avoid using 3D models for reference until you get fairly comfortable that you can draw a decently proportioned person without them. It's better to first learn why all the bits are where they are and to feel confident with your stylised approach to proportions first and then to use a model when you need a bit of reference on a tricky pose.

If you're working with very cartoony proportions, you'll proably need to find more cartoony proportioned reference models, like the manga ones in clip studio. or even to make your own. Or the other option is to try to break your character down into 3D shapes like spheres, cubes and tubes when you draw them yourself. Like they do with Simpsons characters:

[Lev404]

Its on 90% sale now

[aqua03]

I mean, you could always change and evolve your style as you learn. That's what happened to me as I learned and improved as an artist.

[Azifri]

I took that course too, I leveled up so much after it ^^

[mcarrowolga]

Take a look at this free online tool

JustSketchMe

Really helps with getting anatomy right!