@Totts: Vordak is right -- the best thing that will help you to improve is simply drawing from life. (Which is also mentioned by SheepIon when talking about 'observational drawing'.) It could be a cup, an orange, a cellphone, a shoe.. It doesn't matter. Use whatever you have on hand. Every complex object can be broken down into those simple shapes that you did (a sphere, the pyramid or cone, a cube, or a cylinder), you just have to try to visually break each object down. For instance, a cup is built out of a cylinder. A cellphone could be a rectangle/cube when broken down into a basic shape.

Try to start mentally deconstructing the objects you see around you -- once you get the hang of that, try to translate those breakdowns onto paper. (If you wanted to draw a cellphone, for instance, start by lightly sketching the rectangle at the angle you see of the phone sitting before you. Once you have the basic shape and angle correct, then start refining the shape into a more complete drawing, adding details as you go.)

Mastering the basics does take some time, but they're the foundation of everything else from here on out. Get the fundamentals down -- even the most beautiful and complex drawings utilize them.

@Mr Allen J: I'll add you to the roster right now. Welcome to the group!

As long as the artwork is posted with proper credit (as much as you can -- I know sometimes pieces can be hard to source), then it's fine to post artwork done by other people for the purpose of doing studies on your end. Imitation is often helpful for learning various techniques other artists utilize. That all said -- don't do trace overs... In the end they're not very helpful. You'll learn a lot more if you try to draw what you see out by hand. (It'll develop your linework and your eye for accuracy, which will allow you to draw much better on your own. Tracing doesn't really teach you anything except how to trace, unfortunately. The best thing you could do is try to draw what you see out by hand and then overlay your drawing on the original -- it'll show you the areas you need to practice more and help you improve much faster.)

Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll get out of the habit of tracing, and start drawing all this crap I have around lying around.

@Totts: I'll give you two keywords for the beginning artist that are very important when drawing objects (even though they are not necessarily the first things you have to learn. I did 2 years of art at school, and the first few lessons we did was draw lines, straight curved, whatnot, but 'planned lines' that were nice, straight and regular.) Those keywords are ratios and perspective. Both of these form the basics of pretty much every drawing out there, and are two concepts you will never really 'master'. I won't either.It's very important when drawing objects that before or rather during the breakdown in simple shapes as Sherlock suggested, that you measure the ratios of said simple shaped compared to the object itself. (What is the lenght of this object compared to its width? Howmany times does the width fit inside the lenght?) Once you have these basic shapes right, your drawings will look a whole lot better.

A good technique is holding your arm out when your thumb up, pencil in hand, and use your pencil and thumb to measure and compare certain lenghts of an object. Make sure to always measure in the same way though (outstretched arm, straight back, w/e) and to take at least 2.5 times the object's size in distance to yourself if possible since otherwise you probably can't measure most of the object with your arm in front of you and you'll have to move your arm to measure it, making your measuring inaccurate.

I'm basically blurting out random tips and advices I remember from drawing courses. I hope it's worth anything to you!

Raitos are also appliable to shading as well. As long as you get the raitos of shadow to light correct, no matter how overall dark or bright your drawing will be, the form of the object will stand out. Once you get familiar with this concept, you won't have to draw exactly the tones you see, able to slightly alter them.

Here's more news:

A 12th century battle between unprepared militia spearmen charged by dismounted Norman knights. There's some anatomical errors but the idea was to create a battlefield atmosphere.


Metal shading test without an example of a late 15th century gothic plate armour.

Double post.

I'd like to join this, as well!

(I'm currently working on some pixel art on MSpaint, as well as some other drawings (mostly in an anime-ish style). Would you guys be alright with the whole anime thing, though...?)

@Inks: Anime is fine, but good anime is based in knowing how to draw anatomy well, so that it can be stylized properly. (Every excellent anime artist I know started off in realism, which is why their stylizations work so well.) I'll add you to the list -- Welcome aboard!

What tips do you guys have for drawing depth? Everything I draw seems so... flat.

Adding some contrast between the foreground and background might help. A diffrent perspective could help as well. Holmes made a good post about diffrent planes in a drawing and the effects of the atmosphere on distant objects, you can find it somewhere here.

Here it is.

Good news is that I'm back at school and in my drawing class, which means more drawings to show y'all and I'm working on one :)

Did you miss my two last drawings Sherlock, or did you simply not find enough time :o Just asking ^^

Hello! I would like to join as well, if that's okay ^^

Roran Hawkins said
Did you miss my two last drawings Sherlock, or did you simply not find enough time :o Just asking ^^

Completely missed 'em. Sorry about that. XD

With the first drawing -- there's a LOT going on. This piece would really benefit from some more defined lighting and some atmospheric perspective, which will help give things some depth. (You can read the whole write up I did about atmospheric perspective on page two in this thread to understand what I'm talking about.) If you decide which figures are your foreground and then which are receding further back in space, then lighten them accordingly, you'll instantly create depth. Right now all your figures are the same darkness, which makes them feel all clumped into the foreground. If you want to imply that there's a fairly large battle scene going on, some of those figures desperately need to recede into the background.

Second drawing -- not bad. I think you'd benefit from learning to vary your line weights, however. When an edge is closer to your light source, the line should be thinner/lighter. When an edge is turning away from the light source, it should be thicker/darker. Right now your line weight for the whole figure is exactly the same throughout the whole figure. Try experimenting with changing it up a bit. (Doing so will help the figure feel more dimensional and it'll help reinforce your light source.)

Also, I feel like I only ever see armored figures/fighting/knights from you -- you should vary your subject matter slightly. It's quite obvious that you enjoy armor and historical clothing (and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that), but if you want to progress as an artist, you can't only draw one thing... You need to do a variety of subjects. Break it up a bit so you don't become a stagnant, one-trick pony. (If you get stuck in a rut as an artist it becomes very hard to progress. Do varied studies, then try to apply what you learned from them into the subject that you enjoy drawing. For instance, if you had done some landscape/scenery studies, then you'd be able to apply the knowledge of how to achieve scenery depth in your fight scene drawing. Everything interconnects in art, so try to study a bunch of different things and build up your internal library!)

@DrawnIn: I'll go ahead and add you to the roster. Welcome!

I've been a little busy as of late, I'm preparing for a big cross-state move, and I have to do so much that I have little time to practice my drawing, and left me motivationless... Anyways, after an hour and a half of pure drawing, and even more nervousness to post it here, a drawing of my laptop.



Missing: Conspicuous white stains.

Mr Allen J said
I've been a little busy as of late, I'm preparing for a big cross-state move, and I have to do so much that I have little time to practice my drawing, and left me motivationless... Anyways, after an hour and a half of pure drawing, and even more nervousness to post it here, a drawing of my laptop.Missing: Conspicuous white stains.

Not too shabby, Allen! Watch your perspective lines -- you drew the edge of the laptop casing near the bottom at a slightly different perspective than the interior parts. Doing exercises like this will help you much more than tracing. Keep it up!

I figured for the hell of it I'll step in for a critique. And for critique sake post some old then new for comparison's sake if you want to say anything about my progress and gives tips on where to go next. Granted I can find anything that doesn't make me want to gauge my eyes out from back then.

From last year:


From now-a-days:

I got SAI, and I decided to do a fanart-y thing with a reference and it's better than any of my other drawings.

Aaron, while i sure ain't the most exeperienced artits around, i still spotted a few anatomical errors in your drawing of a Satyr. While i may not be right, due to my aformentioned lack of skill, even from such a perspective, looks too wide. Escpecialy considering that she is a woman. And second, which i am completely sure about, is the stomach. It has no mass whatsoever to it. Even if the abdomen is flexed, to support the body, it wont be flat in such a position, a bump being created by the intestines pulled down by gravity to the lower part of the abdomen. Making it more round should make it look more natural.

But again, i may be mistaken, so you checking that yourself by finding some refrence would be better than just listening to me.

I insult the very name of art because I am so atrocious at perspective and angles.



I seek to rectify that.