(This does not exist)

[IndigoShirtProd]

Ok, I was just curious

[JoshRaed]

(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)

[choilyriel]

this is just what ive thought. im not a professional of some sort but this is just based on my experience. Shape manipulation is hard, especially when you wanted a fast results. You need to start from the very beginning, which is drawing shape. from what i see from you, you need to learn how to draw the shapes first.

the thing with shape manipulation is that you need to have a lot of references, unless you can create it by yourself. As a beginner, one of the way is for you to actually trace the reference photo.

for example, this is how i do it. i trace the photo to get the base of the pose rather than created it myself. pls note i dont use shape that much, because my style of drawing doesnt require me to use this.

Tbh in my eyes, your top drawing has more fluidity when it comes to movement rather than the bottom. The bottom one kinda looks a little stiff. It would be better if you twist the body a little bit because you draw the jaw in a certain angle.

thats why i really recommend beginners to:

1) practice by tracing
2) practice by drawing fanart of certain animes or games that you like
3) learn the basic things like drawing eyes, hair, etc.
4) use 3d model pose apps or assets (this helps a lot saving time in webtoon creation)
5) Learn and find references for outfits (for your characters to look more interesting)
6) optional: I learn drawing by starting to draw chibis, you can try it

This is a process of me drawing a fanart straight from the 3d model asset. (I didnt do a proper lineart cuz this is just for fun)

All in all, if you want to try drawing using shapes, you can do so, since it will helps you create a more complicated art in the future. Shapes helps a lot in drawing action poses, animals and even background.

[NickRowler]

I think my concerns is “What are you counting as a drawing?”

Are you doing semi-realistic drawings? Fully color and shaded drawing? Lineart for a whole comic page?

I really think you need to be pushing yourself to not just do a bare minimum. I don’t understand why it is taking you so long to do your character drawings. Most artists can push out a drawing like that in less than a minute. And no, I don’t mean just professionals, I have seen kids who can fill up a page with doodles quite quickly.

Like, if I asked you to “draw a cat” (any style you want), how long would it take you to draw it?

[thepenmonster]

...is there a way to cheat my way...

A succinct summary of all of your posts!

And no you can't. Put in the work.

[KSlinger]

@JoshRaed

In case it wasn't clear THIS is what people mean when they tell you to just go do the work. No amount of argument or rationalisation can move you further along the scale to where you want to be. Just work. You literally have to do 1 drawing, then 2 drawings, then 3 drawings, 100 drawings, 500 drawings etc. One by one. And if you can't get those drawings BEHIND YOU you're never, ever going to get to where you want to be. Whether you do one drawing a day or two doesn't matter. You say it was three months or more between those character designs you posted? Consider that many of us have been drawing daily for hours, for years, and are only just making publishable content resembling a comic. That's thousands of drawings. How many do you have? How many have you made this year, even?

You simply have to do the work, whether you're prepared or not. Whether you've watched all the videos or not. Whether you know what you're doing or not. And every minute you sit around talking about drawing and arguing with people, defending your utterly arbitrary routines and thought processes, the further you still are from developing the skills you're begging for help to attain.

[KSlinger]

I'm by no means a professional or even that great at artist. But I just did some quick sums to get a conservative estimate for how many fully finished drawings I've released for my story so far. 168 published pages, 6 panels on each page (it's usually more like 9). That's 1008 finished drawings. That's the conservative estimate and doesn't incluse studies, character designs, doodles, commissions etc.

And I'm not even that good! I'm barely where I want to be. Do you see?? You need to up your stats, mate. Get some work behind you.

[moontokkym]

Thank you for saying exactly what I've been trying to tell this person for months at this point with a succinct graph!

• There are no cheats

• There is no "correct timeframe" you just have to draw and write and practice and learn

• Let's be honest, it's going to be rubbish for a long time before you do anything that's any good, that's normal, that's how everyone learns. For most of us our current comic isn't our first attempt at a comic, we have several failed or just mediocre projects behind us which serve as foundations.

• You have to accept that it's not going to be the best and push forward anyway for the love of making stuff and the love of putting in the effort so that every part of what you make gets a little better. If you don't do that, all that beginner stuff is still going to be in your system and it's going to come out whenever you draw.

• The longer you put off actually starting and getting things done because you want to do the "right amount, right speed, right scenario, right style..." The longer you put off actually getting a comic done and improvement stagnates.

• Having other priorities than something incredibly time consuming that doesn't pay the bills is more than understandable, but then WE don't know your schedule so WE can't set your pace. You have to start making decisions on your own and if they're wrong for you, change that and work it out

• you say you formed the habit of coming on the forum by coming often. Form the habit of drawing a bit every day. Keep a sketchbook and pencil with you everywhere you go and sketch what you see. Take it out instead of your phone when you're waiting for transport or between classes.

[JoshRaed]

It would still be work, just work that gets done at an earlier point. Like I know that no matter what I do, none of it will work if I’m lazy. My last comic was literal stick figures in fully empty rooms and ended up working really slowly anyway. No amount of corner cutting will be a substitute for actually getting out my pencil to draw.

Also i’ve been told to learn how to draw fast before I draw good, so wouldn’t wanting to rush out comic pages be a good impulse? Once i’ve made a habit of this, and I can do it really fast, I’d add extra steps and do it better. Like I was told to.

[JoshRaed]

I suspected that the twist might have been lost. I don't know what happened. The last two steps of the drawing clearly had a twist. Maybe it was the way the shirt went back to match his movement that obscured it.

[darthmongoose]

It would still be work, just work that gets done at an earlier point. Like I know that no matter what I do, none of it will work if I’m lazy. My last comic was literal stick figures in fully empty rooms and ended up working really slowly anyway. No amount of corner cutting will be a substitute for actually getting out my pencil to draw.

You mentioned at some point in... either this thread or another, that you have ADHD. I think you need to solve your motivation and focus issues in order to solve your drawing issues. Here's a video you might find useful on what's going on with your brain to cause this, and some ideas for how to help yourself get over that hurdle.

[JoshRaed]

Pancake monkeys or something I was born in 2003 my humor is evil.

[JoshRaed]

God i’m stupidly defensive, and I wouldn’t have had to defend my basic understanding of art if I expressed that understanding through my actions.

[JoshRaed]

(insert inane useless questions here)

[NickRowler]

Also the cat would probably take maybe an hour. I'm going to draw a cat and time it to find out for sure.

OK, this is what doesn't make sense to me, it should not be taking you that long. If you only had 1 minute to draw a cat, could you do it? It doesn't even have to be a good drawing, just something that people would tell it was a cat.

[JoshRaed]

(You don’t want to have see what this used to say)

[JoshRaed]

[darthmongoose]

I can tell it's a cat!

Why not make a thread, where people give you things to draw in one minute, and you draw them as best you can in that time? It might be fun and help you get the practice in.

[PoquitoBird]

This is a great recommendation and a warm up activity we used to do at the beginning of art class with 1 and 5 minute intervals! Its good practice and lets you draw things outside of your comfort zone.

[TheLemmaLlama]

Hm, okay, maybe I'm just unusually good at ignoring stuff. Like I basically ignore the promo section, but I don't have it muted like others need to. I only get sucked into exchanges when I feel like someone's being offensive, rather than defensive

the moment they expose themselves to others in a public spaces its not all roses, people too get to debate and question if the person at least tries something

Totally; I'm not saying you should stop commenting because you're hurting their feelings, I'm saying you should stop commenting because you're feeding their addiction. Just like they're addicted to posting, people seem addicted to responding. It takes two to tango; yes, they should try to not post every time they have the slightest question - and I'm saying we should also try to not respond every time they make such a post. I guess it's harder for you than I'd initially assumed, but it's probably just as hard for them

@JoshRaed, if you acknowledge you might be addicted, how would you feel about voluntarily being suspended from the forums for a while? IIRC I think that's possible here? Like with addictions I find at some point you need an external force to just put a hard limit on your ability to engage in the addiction, and if being ignored isn't an option, maybe we could ask the mods to help you out instead