Improvement? Maybe?

[amae]

Haven't done this in a while. Put comic pages, starting from er..2007 (ish?) to now next to each other in a feeble attempt to see if I've improved in the past few years.










So I can definitely say that I've improved since doing Elliot/Variations on a Theme (the first picture), but it kind of gets hard to say if I've stagnated or not past that point, haha. I guess things have stopped looking as Ribon-esque shoujo as they were for the second page, but that's not saying that much. More blacks, which I think is a good thing, and more backgrounds, which is also a good thing (though I admit that I still need to get better at that...especially how to continually include backgrounds without things looking boring). Anatomy has improved slightly, but that also needs a lot of work. Drawing guidelines for characters' bodies has been a good start and I'm definitely continuing that.

I really need to stop...avoiding drawing things that make me anxious (it's a bad habit that applies not only to drawing, but to just things that make me stressed in general). I want to draw a comic that is mainly told through characters' hands as practice, but the thought is honestly so terrifying I've been putting it off, lol. Maybe I should start a bit slower...

Doing Overland has helped with my mindset when doing comics, and it's become a lot less stressful than it was before but I think I'm ready to push myself a bit more. As soon as I finish writing up stuff for Chapter 2, that's exactly what I plan to do. :)

What do you think?

Comments

[charmwitch.livejournal.com]

Life drawing classes will help you with anatomical structure, but the poses will be limited to what the model can hold for an extended period of time.

Just a thought, that's the point of the class isn't it? You're supposed to be quick and dirty, just work on the basic composition and work fast. Details are not the point of the class, so I think fast sketching and figuring where things go in a short amount of time is actually very helpful. XD

[lanisatu.livejournal.com]

Of course it's helpful! I wasn't trying to say otherwise.

I'm just saying that the poses will be limited, so it's a good idea to experiment with poses from other sources too. Especially when the goal is to challenge oneself and draw more unique poses and experiment with angles.

[charmwitch.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's true. You really can't stick to one thing. As a figure artist especially, you'll have to eventually go outside and just start drawing... everyone that walks by. You need to learn how the weight of someone's body changes their movement, or their behavior. :O

I mean, obviously, in terms of comics it might not be that in detail, but it's still very good practice. A good, structured background in art really shows in a comic!