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  1. - Top - End - #1
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    Default Lentrax draws bad manga

    See for yourself at here.

    Seriously though, this is the first time I really want critiques to enhance my abilities. If there is like a thing you want me to try and get miaka to do, like a pose or something, I will try and draw and have you all see what I did wrong so I can try and make it better? Would that be something some of you wonderful people here help me with doing?

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    Default Re: Lentrax draws bad manga

    I have no requests, but I would like to offer criticism. I think the individual components of the character are fairly well done, but there are some things to work on.

    Focus on getting the proportions down first. I get the feeling you draw each part individually. The reason I say that is that while individual parts are well-detailed, they're out of proportion with one another, producing a number of distracting anatomical anomalies. I'd advise starting with broad strokes, getting the general form down. Only then should add your intricate details.

    Overall though, I think it's quite promising. Keep it up.

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    Default Re: Lentrax draws bad manga

    Thanks for that. I have been drawing a 'full figure' but I am still trying to figure it out.

    I'm sure the more I do, the better it will get. I hope.

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    Default Re: Lentrax draws bad manga

    My advice might not be what you're looking for, but I think it would help nonetheless: stop drawing manga... for now.

    Its a drawing style, and I'm not disputing that, but the core problem I find when people want to draw manga is that the vast, vast majority of the time is that the person lacks fundamentals. Understanding of anatomy, gesture, form and perspective are what people typically state fundamentals being, and when you're drawing manga, you're not really learning those. At its core, like all cartooning, manga is a form of symbols and stylizations. By this I mean, what you've drawn for a nose isn't actually what a nose looks like, but it is interpreted/seen as one. The eyes you've drawn isn't actually what eyes look like, but it is interpreted/seen as a pair of them. But what makes a good cartoon, and what makes for a bad cartoon, is understanding the basics of art and drawing. Yes, I'm sure there are people who make a good living and are talented at cartooning and drawing manga, but having a good understanding of what you're trying to represent is a pretty big part of art in general, but especially so in cartoons and manga.

    I would recommend that you draw from life. People, fruit, places, objects. Understanding objects helps you portray them on paper better. I'm certainly not saying that you have to become perfect at drawing from life in order to even begin cartooning, mind you, or that you should never touch base with manga again. But this is coming from someone who spent years drawing manga trying to be a good artist, after learning fundamentals, and learning to understand what I'm trying to portray, I'm much more satisfied with the quality of my work. This was after a few months after I began learning fundamentals, and this was a few months ago while doodling. Not saying I'm perfect, but I am more satisfied with what I do, and I'm able to see where I can improve, and where I can grow.

    I would also advise avoiding any/all "How to Draw Manga" book. They don't teach you how to develop your own art, or teach you how to understand what you're drawing; all they do is teach you how to redraw their work.
    Just finding my roots again.

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    Default Re: Lentrax draws bad manga

    Specifically, avoid any part of a "How To Draw Manga" book that tells you how to draw faces. Staple those pages shut. They're usually terrible anyways.
    The parts where it tells you how to use dynamic lines and basic shapes to draw poses can stay.

    The fundamental difference between 'Manga' style and pretty much any other humanoid style are the faces. The rest just boil down to a difference in detail. Learn how to draw human bodies well, and you can draw pretty much every other style just by changing how well you define your muscles and how stylized you draw the faces.

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    If you must, eyeball art, but do not trace. Eyeballing a pre-existing 2-D work is as good as drawing from life in terms of practicing making what you see translate exactly into what you draw, but lacks the practice of reducing 3-D to 2-D.
    Try eyeballing a piece until your work looks exactly like their work, then go somewhere else, and try to reproduce the image again exactly from your head. This will help you work on bringing images from your imagination onto paper.
    Additionally, while working from preexisting art, try to sketch out what a character would look like without hair, clothing, and facial features before you start adding details.

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    Default Re: Lentrax draws bad manga

    As someone who's been doing this LEARNS TO DRAW thing for three years, my best advice is to look at this dude's youtube channel. He explains things in terms I can understand rather than 'first draw a circle, then draw the rest of the pony'.

    Also echoing what the people have said: don't draw manga! Style is a trap! Learn how to do everything else - learn how to draw completely proportionally accurate human beings, learn form, depth, shape and perspective, learn how to draw cars, and trees, and sewing machines. Like, general artistic skill is the foundation of the house, and a style is the house itself. If you don't know all the art basics then your house is gonna fall over no matter how many times you put it up.

    Once your skills are really well developed across the board then you'll be able to simplify things into a style and have it look really good! In fact, you'll be able to create your own distinctive style rather than cribbing off other people's! That's what you wanna shoot for!

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    Default Re: Lentrax draws bad manga

    Hrmm. Maybe when the kids go back to school later this month I can try and make this a drawing a day thing. Try drawing different stuff as has been suggested.

    Fair warning though. This will be horrible. I am thirty years old, and have taken maybe one art class in the last fifteen years or so.

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    Default Re: Lentrax draws bad manga

    Quote Originally Posted by Lentrax View Post
    Hrmm. Maybe when the kids go back to school later this month I can try and make this a drawing a day thing. Try drawing different stuff as has been suggested.

    Fair warning though. This will be horrible. I am thirty years old, and have taken maybe one art class in the last fifteen years or so.
    Did you ever do blind contours? When I did proper drawing, I always found that helped me.

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    Default Re: Lentrax draws bad manga

    Quote Originally Posted by Cardea View Post
    My advice might not be what you're looking for, but I think it would help nonetheless: stop drawing manga... for now.

    Its a drawing style, and I'm not disputing that, but the core problem I find when people want to draw manga is that the vast, vast majority of the time is that the person lacks fundamentals. Understanding of anatomy, gesture, form and perspective are what people typically state fundamentals being, and when you're drawing manga, you're not really learning those.
    I know you're basically right , but I'm not sure I agree entirely.

    Manga drawing is full of rules that let you cheat. These things are very useful. About all I really did when practising manga drawing as a teenager was just draw pages of terrible eyes. Guess what I'm best at drawing even in a realistic style? Sure I might have gotten better if I had been drawing those eyes from life instead but that wasn't feasibly possible for me at the time.

    I've improved a lot more from life drawing than from stylised drawing but my early attempts based on How to Draw Manga books still helped.

    Sure my complete ignorance of anatomy is a weakness as an artist but I've seen so much terrible comic book art that had decent anatomy but couldn't depict decent clothing to save its life rather be on the other side of that problem. It not being like I have any interest in drawing naked wrestlers.

    Quote Originally Posted by Cardea View Post
    I would also advise avoiding any/all "How to Draw Manga" book. They don't teach you how to develop your own art, or teach you how to understand what you're drawing; all they do is teach you how to redraw their work.
    Not true at all. I'm not sure they're actually that good for beginners but the actual decent HtDM books (the ones that are translations of Japanese books and not by western authors cashing in on the fad) are mostly just costume and object references and break downs of techniques and forms. I've had stuff I wouldn't have been able to draw at all without some of my books to guide me.

    The main reason to actually avoid purchasing that sort of stuff is the abundance of internet resources that make most printed books redundant.

    Quote Originally Posted by Lentrax View Post
    Hrmm. Maybe when the kids go back to school later this month I can try and make this a drawing a day thing. Try drawing different stuff as has been suggested.
    I suppose there isn't any way that practising drawing and child rearing can be combined somehow?
    Last edited by Closet_Skeleton; 2014-08-02 at 06:15 AM.
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    Default Re: Lentrax draws bad manga

    Quote Originally Posted by Closet_Skeleton View Post
    I suppose there isn't any way that practising drawing and child rearing can be combined somehow?
    Drawing pictures of the children?
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    Oooh, and that's a bad miss.

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    Default Re: Lentrax draws bad manga

    Quote Originally Posted by Asta Kask View Post
    Drawing pictures of the children?
    If they're the sit still type, you could consider drawing pictures with the children. ^^
    I realise I'm being too serious again.
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    Default Re: Lentrax draws bad manga

    Quote Originally Posted by Asta Kask View Post
    Drawing pictures of the children?
    Quote Originally Posted by Rain Dragon View Post
    If they're the sit still type, you could consider drawing pictures with the children. ^^
    I realise I'm being too serious again.
    Hahaha. No chance of that happening. I could draw pictures of pictures of my kids but that, I think defeats the purpose.

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    Default Re: Lentrax draws bad manga

    People you know might disagree with the mangafication your kids.

    The remaining possibility is, of course, to draw on the children. Henna!
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    Default Re: Lentrax draws bad manga

    Quote Originally Posted by Lentrax View Post
    Hrmm. Maybe when the kids go back to school later this month I can try and make this a drawing a day thing. Try drawing different stuff as has been suggested.

    Fair warning though. This will be horrible. I am thirty years old, and have taken maybe one art class in the last fifteen years or so.
    Check out my Drawthread; I started in my twenties, with no art background whatsoever, and am getting progress done through raw discipline. It's never too late.

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    Default Re: Lentrax draws bad manga

    Despite earlier attempts by many people in my life to get me to do otherwise, I am still drawing.

    Finally got another scanner to upload some of the stuff I have laying about, and don't mind sharing, despite being random pictures and clothing practice and stuff.

    Still trying to figure out hands though...

    And as always: comments and critiques are welcome!
    Last edited by Lentrax; 2014-11-26 at 09:18 PM.

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    Default Re: Lentrax draws bad manga

    I don't think this is necro since I am adding content to my own thread, but if it is I apologize.

    But.

    My wife is currently extremely ill. And so I decided to give her something that meant something to me.

    So I followed a tutorial, and drew this for her.

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    A novella about a wizard and a rock star, cross-dimensional travel, and healing wounds neither knew were there.

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    Lentrax has a Deviantart now, check it out!

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