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WatermelonMage
Jan '17

So I'm a relatively new "artist" person guy. I've been drawing characters for at least three months (busts, heads faces whatever), a week ago where I actually became proud of my work. It was really cool actually liking my stuff for once after slogging through terrible sketch after terrible sketch.

But now I've encountered a new problem. Most of my sketches have been of the same non descript girl for the last little while. It's either "long haired girl with edgy bangs and cute ;3p face" or "short haired girl with edgy bangs and cute ;3p face", or the two with "messy" hair.

Now I'm just wondering what I can do to explore different possibilities. Guys got any tips?

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    Jan '17

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    Jan '17
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Greg_Dickson
Jan '17

First off, there's nothing wrong with drawing the same character over and over. It helps you become more consistent at drawing anatomy. I'd try and mix in a male character to keep practicing with too. Focus on whoever you want as long as you're having fun, but mix it up with the other character. Once you've gotten enough practice with anatomy and drawing the characters from any angle you wish, then start creating new characters. Preferably of different builds to get used to them too. Backgrounds are also a very important thing to practice, but draw your characters first, and then make a background for them. For me, drawing empty static backgrounds was boring as hell and I never wanted to practice them, at least until I started using my characters with them.

hushicho
Jan '17

If you want to incorporate new elements, find these elements and use them as references. There's nothing wrong with using a reference; it's what all artists do. Try to realize what has been depicted in your own style, and practice it a few times until you can draw it effectively in your own style. You'll find yourself with a much greater ease and versatility after a few of these exercises!

WatermelonMage
Jan '17

If you don't mind me asking, when does using a reference become flat out stealing?

redsblueyoungster
Jan '17

Consistency is one of the essentials of comic drawing so it's good to have it down early. You can continue doing the hair changing as a test to see what looks better specifically on the character. You could even develop those variants into their own characters and just make enough differences that they don't look like the original character. The alternate hair styles could also be a twin too XD.

If you're going to do a drastic change like body shape then just practice it.

Mocha
Jan '17

I think it's okay to draw similar things over and over again, especially if it's something you really enjoy drawing. But if your looking to improve you can try to push yourself out of your comfort zone by doing something like drawing a pose from a photograph for reference, or mixing in new things like trying to draw hands alongside drawing faces. I think that trying to draw a variety of things as well as the things you enjoy drawing and are comfortable with already is a good combination to start with.

shazzbaa
Jan '17

Generally it becomes stealing when you exactly copy someone else's art or photos and claim it's your creation!

Here is the best explanation of how to use reference to learn to draw new things that I've ever seen!6 Definitely worth reading through.

See, it's perfectly fine to exactly copy a reference for practice -- not every drawing you do is going to be a finished product! So if you look at a bunch of photos of different kinds of people, you can certainly copy those photos exactly, to practice, but when you want to draw a thing that's yours, the reference will be just that -- a reference; finding things like "what does long hair really look like" or "what does someone in this pose look like"

hushicho
Jan '17
WatermelonMage

Using a reference is not stealing.

Tracing over something is closer to stealing. And while tracing can have its place -- for practice exercises and learning how to perform the strokes with your own media and your own style -- it doesn't generally belong in a finished work, especially for profit. However, textures do, tones do, and sometimes even photographs do; it depends largely on what you're doing with something and the terms of use on the original material. It's a complex issue, and it's hard to draw a line.

I would say, however, that tracing over art that another artist did, especially if it's another comic artist, to put in your own comic...that's probably not going to be okay. That's going to be cribbing, and people will likely get a bit upset over that. Of course, there have been occasions where someone hasn't stolen at all, but they've been accused of it, so it may well be that we're damned whether we do or not.

It's best to have the integrity not to, though. It's one thing to look at a reference, but quite another to simply trace over someone else's work and pass it off as one's own. Even the artists now regarded as great masters used references: models, props, poses, everything they could to make their work the best it could be. There is nothing wrong with using a reference to the fullest extent it can be used. But stealing...

Oh wait, I've taken so long to write this lengthy reply that someone's said it better!

That! And the rest of that post. That's pretty much the best rule of thumb. Don't copy stuff outright and claim it as your own.

smile

AnnaLandin
Jan '17

Challenge yourself! When you pick up the pencil, decide that you're doing to draw something outside of your comfort zone.

Instead of just drawing the cute girl, think "okay, I'm going to draw an old man today", or "today I'm going to draw a fat lady", or "today I'm drawing a horse", or whatever. And if you feel uncertain of what that looks like, look up reference photos of it!

And by all means, keep drawing the cute girl! Just get some variety in there as well.

When you a.) post the reference image but slap your own name on it, b.) when you just literally trace the lines of the original image without changing anything, and then slap your own name on it and post it somewhere online without mentioning it. Credit where credit is due.

Tracing and copying in your sketchbook for practise is 100% okay. It's a way of learning! Just don't copy someone else's work and show it to people and claim it's all yours.

abbastudios
Jan '17

Go to park or mall and draw the people you see. Then you will fill up your brain file with a variety of people.

Michelle
Jan '17

Don't sweat it too much if you've been practicing for 3 months! If it's been 3 years and you've only been drawing this one girl, then yeah, that might be a problem. But it's good to have that one thing you know you can always draw when nothing else comes to mind.

That said, try tackling a new drawing subject each day! Maybe one day it's people, then animals, then vehicles. If you want to really get into it, you could say "This week I'll practice people", and every day draw a different type of people. So one day it's kids, then men, then old people. Explore difference ethnicities too. I know cute young girls is the favourite among most artists, but there's a lot of fun to be found in drawing all types of people!

ToonDoctor
Jan '17

Ask someone else to do your breakdowns for you. It will give you their perspective instead of yours to clean up.

DavidPerry
Jan '17

Start with the basics. Go out and do some life drawing. Study anatomy! There are a lot of great tutorials on YouTube from users like "Proko" and "Draw with Jazza." If you've only been drawing for three months, you have years of practice to look forward to. I've been illustrating for twenty-five years, and I still use the tutorials. Always and forever.

Professional illustrators still do life drawing. It's a skill you'll build and hone your entire life. But sometimes it's difficult know where to start, and I'd say start with tutorials and practice, practice, practice.

lukiadarci
Jan '17

Congratulations on making it to the 3 month mark! You've got some great advice in this thread already so I won't repeat what's already been said.

If you don't mind cussing, H.C Brown has recently made a video on same face syndrome1. I especially like her last point on creating different personalities for your characters.

If you'd like to learn how to draw the rest of the cute girl's body, I also recommend Alphonso Dunn's video on drawing the human figure from imagination. Its a good summary on drawing a human mannequin in proportion and how to easily make your own poses.