I am sorry you went though all that trouble just for me! D:

I am very thankful you did though! I saved all the videos and the photoshop download link.

Thanks for the battle you won to post this information :)

@Ladybeatrice,
I only looked at the eye structure video, but that one is very good! Going to use that~ Thank you for the link even though it wasn't meant for me hehe. (Btw, your step-by-step eye video is a repeat link ^.^'')

So taking the tips you all have given me and watching a few videos I made this:



I am proud of it :) Now I just need to work on bodies and things.

I also drew this guy the other day:

^ Forgot to ping you, look at above post ^

:)

You should be proud. :) You did a nice job of getting the nose to have some dimension. Noses are very tricky. Well done all around! The squirrel looks cute. I'm not good at drawing animals, so I have no advice to give for that. Await your next drawing =w=)~

Thank you, it means allot coming from someone like you with the beautiful art that you have, the nose was a nightmare, I couldnt have done it without the helpful guidance, not sure when/what I will draw next but I will keep you posted if you would like. :)

Edit: As for the squirrel I drew him as a gift for my mother, I promised I would draw her one XD I still want to work on him so he is a WIP and so is the cyclops girl, I have enough room to draw her a body but... yeah still need to work on that >.<

Ooooooh, i have some links for what'll look like more advanced stuff, but even just reading them can be a huge help. On my phone rn so i'll have to come back for them, but if you wanna look yourself, How to Draw the Marvel Way is excellent for understanding most basics and working your way up, and there's a pile of Loomis pdfs somewhere that can seriously help anyone learn more about human anatomy.

Of course, i have a better grasp of humans than animals, but i'll be looking for tutorials on that myself soon, so i can send good ones your way!

Program wise, i am personally dedicated to SAI. If you go that route, i can get you tutorials and brush settings galore! I did begin with GIMP though, and i know of at least one artist who makes it work, so don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise. He has his brush settings somewhere, i'll have to find them. I'd just download GIMP if i were you, it's free and a good place to start even if you don't stick with it.

Also, investing in a tablet is good. The artsy kind, not the iPad kind. It truly is an investment, but if you really want to go the digital route, it's worth it. Otherwise there's plenty of ways to edit scanned traditional art.

Also, always remember to practice. Just draw a LOT, and always be looking for ways to improve!

Drawing from real life references helps sooo much, even if you end up with a non-realistic style, it's best to have a grasp on anatomy, in order to make it recognizeable.

Uhhh what else...oh, try not to compare yourself to other artists. We're all different, we're all at different skill levels and different styles and some people's brains and hands work better together than others'. It's fine, we're all working on our own craft, and as long as it's something you enjoy, that's what matters. Granted, everyone else will compare and it's not easy to avoid it yourself, but it saves a lot of greif and being negative if you conciously try to avoid it.

Oh, and there'll be times when you hate your art, when you feel like you can do better but you don't seem to be reaching what you think you can. Sometimes your eyes know what it's supposed to look like, but your hands haven't caught up. They will. Just don't give up!

Also, last tip: don't get lazy. I still catch myself trying to cut corners to save time or effort. That's effort i'm not putting into the piece, and i can confirm it ALWAYS shows. If not to others, you will know that you decided to slack off on a certain part, and it will BOTHER you. So, don't get lazy, draw hands and toes, don't try to hide them. We all hate hands, but you can't get better if you avoid them!

Ok, phew, i think that's it for now. I'll get those pdfs and see what animal tuts i can find.

I only briefly skimmed through the first page, but I might have something new to add.

Practice. Becoming good at something doesn't happen over night. Everyone probably said this but it can't be stressed enough. You don't have to create masterpieces everyday, but you should start a daily doodle journal. It gets out bad ideas, and sometimes brings good ones all while getting your practice in.

Start simple. Even if in the end you want to be better at drawing humans, you first need to understand how light works and maybe try to draw different textures as well. Start by drawing simple still life images. Start with a single apple, and then add another object to the composition. Do not draw from photos or other people's drawings, draw from the REAL thing. Put an apple on your table and use a desk lamp (preferably one with a bendy neck) to direct strong light. Add lots of different random objects with different textures and practice drawing the textures and making interesting compositions.

Anatomy. It really helps to invest in anatomy books. If you're drawing for fun maybe not, but if you want to learn what humans and/or animals look like it really helps to buy a physical book and look through it. Try using a piece of vellum/tracing paper and put it on top of the images in the book. Draw basic shapes on the vellum according to what is underneath, creating a kind of skeleton that you learn yourself. Learning from images like these:

Really doesn't beat actually making a sketch/skeleton yourself from an anatomy book.

Traditional before digital. Be comfortable drawing on paper before moving onto the computer. Even when you draw in programs like Photoshop or GIMP it really helps to draw it on paper first and then scan it. In my art college we are taught to start on paper before moving onto a screen for everything we do, and there is a good reason for it.

Make it yours. So often I see people copy other styles or just straight up trace something. Don't do it. You'll feel more proud if you learn on your own. It's okay to take inspiration from art eras, but it's not okay to outright copy something.

Thank you for the help :)

Thank you for the tips :)