This is my own Character Drawings

http://www.bigbeat.pl/dg/samick%20um3%20VS%2011big.jpg - I tried to draw this one, wich is my very own Samick Ultramatic.

I don't mind.

Kool Do you plan on Drawing 'Cloie' Sometime?

Currently not, but maybe I will.

Drawing I Did At School, Last Wednesday. (Completely Original, No Copied Pose, Or Anything)

Pic Info/Reason For Drawing: Summer Is Here... I Felt Like Doing A Good Summer Pic.
So, I Drew Cloie At The Beach

Very nice.

Although I have some comments :

- neck (at least for me) looks kind of weird. It bends too far to the right (or backwards).
- eyes look kind of akward - left iris should be placed a little more to the right (the center of the face) IMO.
- position of the legs - the more visible one should be more straightened, because position done like that is kind of uncomfortable - possible, but uncomfortable and unnatural .

But these are minor things that I had to add. Other than that - it's very well done.

Now, color and shade it, dammit!

Thats what I was planing on doing.
And one reply to your comments... Its done in pen...soooooo....I couldn't erase

Niiice, dude!

Nikolai wrote:(Emulated) Cloie Morning Feeling (In color)

Did you used this as a refference :



Because looking at the theme and bottom body you did.
It would be nice for you to give a note about that.

Not that I'm accusin'.

Yes, I did in fact use that as its "inspiration/body-pose" or what ever you want to say. I wont lie
I tried to change somethings, so that it wasn't Completely ripped off. ;P

Like I said - I'm not accusing of ripping of. You wrote you emulated it, but how can a picture be emulated? Style, yes, but picture can be copied or being used as a refference.

Thus, you used is as a refference. I do it sometimes, but mostly for practice, and I don't use drawings but real people pictures. It leaves more room for imagination as you can't follow picture precisely when you're making a cartoon.

Nikolai,

My advice to you is very different from some of the things that I've read in this thread. Maybe I'm the one who's wrong, so take these with the appropriate grains of salt:

1. Just keep drawing a lot, and the rest will follow. In his book "Chuck Amuck", animation director Chuck Jones writes that his art teacher at Choinard told the class that everyone has 100,000 BAD drawings in them, and the sooner they get it out of them the better it will be for everyone. In high school we wrote short essays which the teacher then examined, marking every error in red for correction. In college the professor told us that the whole approach was wrong, and that if we simply got into the habit of writing a lot every day, good grammar would naturally follow. Looking back, my college prof was right, because in high school we learned to hate writing, and in college we learned to love it. Often the only thing standing between us and what we want (weight loss, writing skill, drawing skill, whatever) is habit. Building a good habit is often difficult, but if you keep a good habit going, everything else usually falls into place easily. With rare exceptions, do NOT spend a lot of time on a single drawing. You're better off moving on to the next one. Make sure that you're having fun with it, and that you're doing it often.

2. Stop worrying about developing your own style. It will happen naturally even if you tried to stop it from happening. I mostly studied animation, and in that field one of the big challenges is to get everyone to use the same style, at least while they're on the job. If JJ's style melts your butter, pick out 50 or so of his best drawings, grab some tracing paper, and trace each one of them several times until you can draw a near-copy on your own without the tracing paper. Then start drawing slight variations of the drawings, and then finally some new poses of the same characters. You are NOT ripping anyone off, you're simply learning how to be a good animator! The development of your own style is inevitable with time. As long as you're having fun doing it, a tracing exercise like this will make you a better artist (especially if you want to be an animator).

3. Avoid being self-critical. Arrogance is bad, but for some reason many artists (including my daughter) get into the habit of badmouthing their own work because it isn't as good as they wanted it to be. I think that's a mistake. Kids do worse when they're constantly told that they're worthless, even if the kid doesn't believe the statements. Repeated sayings sink into parts of our brain, and can cause trouble even if the sayings are disbelieved at the conscious level. No matter how much you love drawing now, you'll erode your joy if you keep muttering that the work stinks. If you want to progress, you'll need that joy. Obviously some drawings are better than others, and nearly every drawing is not as good as the artist would like (even for experienced artists). That's just how the process works. Treat each drawing as a step forward on your life's journey -- including the dead-ends and mistakes. Make sure that you're enjoying what you're doing, or you'll inexorably learn to avoid it.

I could write more but it's getting late. I hope this was helpful.

--Will
William L. Dye ("willdye")
Software Enginerd
Lincoln, Nebraska (USA)

Awe, your going to make me cry. Thanks for all the advise and information. I assume that you have been through the same experiences? Thanks for the well thought out & typed message, You couldn't have worded it any better.

i think you mentioned once that you don't normally use wireframes. hve you been drawing so long you don't need them?

Well...kinda... I found them difficult to use, so i never used them... but they help alot now that I know how to use them.

Wireframes... You mean a stick figure you can draw around?

Yep.

Nikolai wrote:Yep.

Why not? Those things are fucking awesome!

did you use a wireframe on the last one you posted?

yeah

Quoth willdye:
3. Avoid being self-critical. Arrogance is bad, but for some reason many artists (including my daughter) get into the habit of badmouthing their own work because it isn't as good as they wanted it to be. I think that's a mistake...Obviously some drawings are better than others, and nearly every drawing is not as good as the artist would like (even for experienced artists). That's just how the process works. Treat each drawing as a step forward on your life's journey -- including the dead-ends and mistakes....

I very much agree with this point. One of my pet peeves is artists complaining about how their older work looks like hamster vomit or how their recently drawn art (that most people would love to draw so well) isn't very good.


My advice is to never be ashamed of your work. Never.

Your older work may not be up to your present standards. Your art on off-days may feel lousy to you. Your skills now may not be up to replicating what you see in your minds eye. Be proud of your work anyway.

Having an ego is only a bad thing when it's left unchecked. It helps you look at your work in a positive light, to make you realize that, yes, this art of yours, no matter how lousy overall, is still useful and good for you.

Still, it must be balanced with humility. When you look at an old picture or concept and think you can do better now, you're not admitting the picture or concept is lousy (if you do, that's a separate thing). You're noting that the picture or concept can be revised and tightened up for another version, something competent artists and writers do all the time when they make new drafts of their work.


In short, don't see your not-up-to-standard works as lousy, rotten chunks of hamster vomit, but as good, solid steps to a continued evolution of art style. You're never a great artist until you're dead.

I was very critical and still, to some point I am, especially when someone else is praising my work. But that's how my Ma' raised me and I hate her for that (among other things). To this day I can't understand how someone can praise my pictures. I loved being praised when I was in a band, when I wrote good compositions and played well, but I have problems with hearing out how good my drawings are. It's strange, but I like my harsh humility towards myself.

As CyberCorn said - check your ego when you're rating your own work.

Gha! Dam* it. I'm pretty frustrated with myself. You guys may not see a Picture Post from me for a few days... I need to work out some of my..."Articular" problems. *Sigh*

I need to...ghuuuuuu. I dont know.... I'm just a bit tormented by the fact that I admire JJ's work and characters so much that I basically ripped them off, with my characters.

I need to get my head straight and possibly rethink my characters. ...*Bleh*

(Not Nikolai.....but Cloie and Sam. mostly Cloie. Maybe even remove her entirely.)

I'd say scrap them. At least the Cloie one.

You asked me to draw her, but truth-to-be told - I don't want to. Why you ask? Because she's so unoriginal. She's like a Scarlet, I can tell it while looking at her and reading about her characteristic you gave to us. If I have to be fair I think JJ's Scarlet is annoying. Cloie is basing on almost the same script, so she'll be even more annoying. Scrap her or re-invent her.

For Sam character - make her less Kat looking and stay with the rocker/punk-rocker theme. Give her character a fang that will be visible when you're gonna draw her.

Look at your friends, look at yourself and give a soul to your character.

Look at Cenaris. Now, old forum is gone but I can say that his first drawings that he posted left a lot to be desired (sorry Cenaris for critique) but they had a visible character. They had a premise. Still have. And I hope they will when Cenaris will release his top-selling (best viewing?) comic.

And don't worry about your style but don't use one that is simmilar to original artist when "getting serious" and making a story.

That's all form me.

Pietja wrote:
Look at Cenaris. Now, old forum is gone but I can say that his first drawings that he posted left a lot to be desired (sorry Cenaris for critique) but they had a visible character. They had a premise. Still have. And I hope they will when Cenaris will release his top-selling (best viewing?) comic.

And don't worry about your style but don't use one that is simmilar to original artist when "getting serious" and making a story.

That's all form me.

No problem
As long as I have notes on my characters they'll have purpose.
I think what Pietja's saying is fair critique. There's nothing wrong with looking at a style you like and applying it your own images. I'll admit I took heavy influence from both Jollyjack AND Bruce Timm (even if it wasn't apparent concerning the latter). But while taking influence from styles is fine, it's still important to add your own flair to them, whether it be how you draw a certain curve, eyes, limbs, whatever.

Short answer: Everyone copies. Nothing is original any more so imitation happens. But imitate too much.

Well, maybe I need to find something else to start drawing... I really don't know. I am DIEING to develop my own "Unique" Character and style that the Character is drawn in. Like, I look at Scarlet and Kat, they are like JJ's babies (they are completely his) I don't really have a character like that. I need to find a way to develop one. I don't have a very vivid imagination when developing a characters personality, body, etc. *Sigh*
Thanks for the advise Pietja and Cenaris. I will see how I can fix myself.