Mego learns to draw!

[mego]

I've never been an artist. In fact the closest I've ever come to being artistic is dating an art major one time. Seeing the works of Vicious and Sarah inspired me to try drawing on my own and see what I could do.

Here is the first sketch I've ever completed. I showed it to Vicious and he made some suggestions.

Since then I reworked it and here is the newest version.

They aren't coloured, but Tsaalyo has said he would colour in the second one since he has coloured in the first one.

I'm a novice in the extreme sense of the word, so I would appreciate any comments anyone has, especially constructive criticism on how to improve. Don't worry about being too harsh. The harsher the better. I'm a big boy, and I can handle anything.

[sleepyferret]

Well... for one thing, the right side of the face is a bit too rounded - it should slope up more at an angle.

The best I can tell anyone is to draw from real life. I've spent hours staring creepily at people as I sketch them, or just watching them because studying actual people, even if just from a photograph, as you draw is the only way to imprint in your mind the contours of the human face and body.
With every picture you draw, you will improve.

[Warbandit]

Omg, Mego is an artist! Lol, I don't blame you, Sarah is a big inspiration to many ;D

I really like your second sketch. Faces were never my forte...so I can't really offer and help. Although isn't the nose supposed to remain thick right up until it becomes the eyebrow? It seems to stop half-way Other than that, looks great! Will look forward to more of your art

[greensquid]

I'm going to give you the same advice I give anyone who's just starting out.

Firstly, read this book
www.amazon.com/New-Drawing-Right-Side-Brain/dp/0874774195/ref=sr_1_2/102-6779718-8127321?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1174646616&sr=8-2

Now this may seem like a pointless endeavor, but allow me to explain why it's a helpful book. With the way our brains work, to deal with the mundane everyday things we see, is to convert those things in to symbols which are easier for our brain to comprehend. When asked to draw an eye or a face, we draw the symbol our brains have set. When asked to actually look at and copy something, the part of your brain that converts things in to symbols is actually fighting you. It's essentially saying "hey why are we looking at this, we know what this is, stop."

Learning to shut that part of the brain off, and take in the detail of whatever it is you are trying to copy will actually allow you to copy things better. I can pretty much guarantee that if you go through that book, read it all, and do all the excercises you'll improve by leaps and bounds. Just remember, draw slowly.

I also recommend trying to get a hold of Loomis books. (I actually have those on my comp, so if you want them I'd be happy to send them to you.) They're a collection of books by this guy named Andrew Loomis. He was a illustrator in the 40s and did these series of books that show you everything from cartoon drawing to realistic figure drawing. They're like an essential part of any artists library.

My best advice, is that first and foremost you must be honest with yourself. Because in the end it's all on you. You actually have the option to ignore critiques, and sometimes in order to improve you're going to have to. Never assume that just because someone critiques you, they know what they're talking about. Generally if you're honest with yourself, and put forth some effort, you have the potential to become the next Michelangelo or Stephen Silver.

[mego]

Awesome, you guys. Thanks for the tips, especially greensquid's in depth advice.

[mego]

I've been experimenting in my classes the past couple of days to figure a variety of hairstyles, specifically for females. One trouble I'd been having is trying to draw Bonnie's hairstyle from memory. So tonight at work, I was doing some research by looking at screencaps and browsing DA (I really need to get an account there) to see what was available to learn from. Meanwhile, I was discussing drawing things with Sarah on MSN. She was telling me about a picture she was working and gave me the following idea.

I ended up sketching a combination of the following screencap as well as Sarah's picture of me without the hero get up.

As I'm just beginning, I did my best to stay true to the pictures and draw exactly what I saw on my screen. I'm not so much worried about my own personal style right now. If I tried to draw something in my own unique style it would suck. Believe me, I know because I tried it yesterday and it was horrible. Once I get better and faster and can start drawing things from memory a bit more, I'll focus on developing my own style. Right now I just want to focus on the image being presentable. It took me about two hours to complete. The end result is this!

I drew this using a 3B pencil and some printing paper since that is all I had available to me at the time.

Bonnie and Mego obviously are property of Disney.

[aliciamartin]

great stuff uncle i wish you luck with your drawings

[greensquid]

So this is, what, the third sketch you've ever made? Man that's like going from 0 to 60 in nothing flat. Keep going keep going!

[Sarah]

yay! Looking good ;D great improvement here, I hope you keep it up!

[mego]

greensquid said:

So this is, what, the third sketch you've ever made? Man that's like going from 0 to 60 in nothing flat. Keep going keep going!

I was very slow and deliberate when drawing the lines. It took me about 30 minutes just to do the hair outline. haha Plus there was a LOT of erasing going on once I got back to my apartment and had access to an eraser.

I'm thinking of buying a set of coloured pencils and colouring it in.

It's amazing how quick a person learns to draw when someone takes the time to show them the basics of drawing. Not like my high school art class where we hardly spent any time drawing at all. What little drawing we did consisted of the teacher putting a bowl of fruit in the middle of the room and saying "Work on drawing this for the next few days." It was like she was teaching us how to build a house without first teaching us how to make blueprints.

Technically it's the third sketch I've completed. I've started tons, but have never finished due to frustration with how crappy it was starting to come out.

[Dr. Drakken]

Getting better I see. Bravo!

[sleepyferret]

Hey, that's a lot of visible improvement! Keep it up. <3

[Duke Random Guy ZT]

Lets see if my non-artists ways can commucate my thoughts on this picture:

ZOMG thats so much better than b4!!!111! how u do it? u use HAX!11!!shift1!!1 stop beeing a haXzor!111211!!!

In other words, you're making quite an improvement.

[Mickey]

randomguyzt said:

ZOMG thats so much better than b4!!!111! how u do it? u use HAX!11!!shift1!!1 stop beeing a haXzor!111211!!!

That is the greatest art critique ever. I'm sure Mego will need a translater to understand what you said.

[Duke Random Guy ZT]

Which is why I conveniently provided him with one below.

[mego]

protomickey said:

randomguyzt said:

ZOMG thats so much better than b4!!!111! how u do it? u use HAX!11!!shift1!!1 stop beeing a haXzor!111211!!!

That is the greatest art critique ever. I'm sure Mego will need a translater to understand what you said.

Or perhaps a translator.

[mego]

This morning I attempted to redraw the Bonnie pose I did previously, but I was going to do it from memory since I was in my 10 o'clock class. That was the first draft. It was getting pretty bad fast, so after lunch I did a 2nd draft in my 12 o'clock class. I was a bit happier with the 2nd draft result, but I still had a 2 o'clock class so I did a third draft.

I've scanned and compiled them here and they are labelled. I'm much happier with the third draft than I am with the where the first draft was going. There was so much wrong with the first one. Anyone can see that.

Anyway, once again I am curious as to some tips for how to make the third draft look better. The girl I drew ended up being a combination of Bonnie and Sarah's pictures of herself. Also, I am trying to learn how to communicate emotions through various facial expressions, so if if you all would, please tell me what emotion you see being conveyed through the expressions in each of the pictures. Thanks!

[mego]

I have uploaded the final version here and I will be colouring it in later on when I get the chance.

[Rose Hunts]

Not bad mego.. The first time I drew Jake, he looked a bit like an alien.. Thank god practice does really help. Your on the way to great drawings.. Good luck..

[Wego1&2]

Great job, Mego.