Similar to my first attempts. (I haven't gotten much better...but...)

a) Don't draw on 80g/m² printer paper... buy yourself a decent 190g/m² or higher sketchbook! otherwise you'll spoil your skills and have worse overall results, anyway.

b) buy a better eraser, and use a loose sheet of paper to rest your left hand on - this way, you won't smudge your drawing as much when moving your free hand about carelessly

c) use a small hand broom to brush away eraser 'filings', that too can reduce smudging

d) to darken your lines, don't go over them with the pencil again and again - this will lead to loose pigment powder on your paper that will seriously aggravate the smudging. And, even worse, it won't get dark, it will become shiny. Use an estompe instead to smooth out the lines, then use the pencil a little more, and estompe again. (spelling is not correct, I fear, but you can get them at an art store for a quarter or so). They are made of paper wrapped into a rough pencil shape, and it will evenly distribute pencil colours on the paper and into its pores.

e) once you're done with a drawing, finalize it using spray fixative. it's vile stuff, but it'll preserve your pencil drawings for a long time (otherwise, they'll get more and more smudgy over time, even if you have them in a protective wrapper)

f) consider inking, or watercolour pencils as an advanced drawing/painting technique. look into shading, that improves the quality of your pictures a lot once you grok it :)

HTH!

[Edited by - Thygrrr on November 2, 2004 6:33:35 AM]

Please look at: www.fineart.sk for tutorials.
I recommend Andrew Loomis's books, those are great and
seemingly you will have a good use of it.
It is a good start you've shown here, but
surely is not enough.

Try to use photoreferences, learn anatomy (not only human) and
draw as much as you can. I even today, draw 1-2 heads and figures each day (in any weird pose) just to practice my skills.
I am not perfect at all (if ever I could be as good as Loomis himself I'd be the happiest man in the world) so
practicing is vital.

I wish the best!

Two more helpful links:

www.polykarbon.com (damn good artist here with good anime
tutorials, I do not know your style so it might be helpful)

www.robertocampus.com (another miracle with good tutorials and
what I like the best that all tutorials show a different technique!)

maybe www.goodbrush.com could be a help (he is my favourite! look at his sketches, all masterpieces)