Something that troubles me..

[NessIllustration]

@christinakal Uhmm then it's something else... It might be that you're more comfortable representing light and shadow realistically as they appear on a reference picture. When you draw, you have to translate shapes and lighting into lines, so that's an additional step that you maybe have trouble with? Mind you, your drawing is really nice and there's nothing wrong with it! It seems compared to the ear it's much more stylized, and that you have also spent a lot less time on it. So it's not a 1 to 1 comparison! I would be curious to see you draw a realistic ear (using the same reference, even!) and taking the same amount of time to do it, this might make it easier to see what's going on here!

[ArtofAleksey]

@christinakal ok cool. How do you usually learn best? I am trying to improve my own line drawing skills and finally finding out what’s working by trying new things. All this after a bajillion years.

[LauraA]

Some people think like painters, in big shapes, while others think like draftsmen, in lines. Of course it's not quite that simple and most people are a bit of both, but it's worth considering. As a test, you can try drawing the same image both ways and see if one is easier than the other. Neither is wrong!

[christinakal]

@NessIllustration I will to that. I am curious to see that myself I am aiming for a more stylized style as I am starting a comic book project. I just need more practice. I would like to do realistic studies so I can understand how things work and then make them more stylized.

[christinakal]

@Aleksey Well, my learning process includes a lot of tutorials! haha but in general the thing that helps me most, is studying other artist's work. I try to understand how they put their lines, how they construct their drawings, their thinking process etc. Other than that, realistic studies helps a tone, understanding how things work. Some exercises I personally do:

• Film Studies. I draw or paint screen shots from movies. It helps with composition, acting and of course light and mood.
• Drawing animals and people in simple shapes (cubes, spheres) but in different perspective. Try 2 point but also 3 point perspective.
• Plein Air paintings. I usually use reference images from http://www.mapcrunch.com/.
• I sometimes try to take a picture (usually a character) and I try to stylize it. But I usually fail! I definitely need to practice more!
• And whatever study I do I try then to draw it without the reference, to see what I remember!

I hope it helps!

[ArtofAleksey]

@christinakal nice. I really wanna try doing the move scene studies. I really like the production design of Pride and Prejudice. When i was trying to figure out my comfort and style i had to gather some old drawings I did and compare them to styles I wanted them to look like. I tried to redraw those in the other style and something just clicked eventually.

[christinakal]

@Aleksey Great. I am glad that something clicked! Very nice feeling

[ArtofAleksey]

@christinakal do things click more often for you with painting and color?

[christinakal]

@Aleksey I think they do yes. I guess I have a better understanding with color than lines. It just feels more natural.

[christinakal]

ΟΚ,I did as I promised. Here is a portrait study I did:

Lineart:

Painting:

Reference picture

[Nyrryl Cadiz]

@christinakal what i can say is that the right side of your painting’s face is ver narrow compared to the left side and your reference. It’s not quite right with the proportions. Other than that, great rendering.

[christinakal]

@nyrrylcadiz I agree. Also I think the values are not the best. I always see mistakes after I post something

[Nyrryl Cadiz]

@christinakal same here. i also tend to notice more of my mistakes after I post my work.

[Nor]

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