Well, for the purpose of a fan based work... don't know what yet, whether it will be some online comic, a game or just die, I have been drawing Earthworm Jim characters. Even if I don't end up actually making an actual Earthworm Jim fanwork, I think it would be good practice. Anyways, I need commentary on these, and I am pretty sure this is one of the few places that won't say "you suck" without backing it up with some constructive criticism. Anyways, these are more or less designed from memory mostly. While on my gallery I have characters I made up, the ones I post will be cannon characters. Psycrow--closer to final designEvil Pete PuppyPrincess WhatshernameEvil Whatshername More to be posted.

your drawings lack understanding of proportion, angles/perspective, and anatomical knowledge.

Perhaps you should look into the Freehand Drawing Workshop. Although I'm not sure how active it is.

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Original post by Jarrod1937 your drawings lack understanding of proportion,

I'll grant you that on Evil Pete Puppy, though, after checking some of the characters these are based on, the proportion is pretty spot on.

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Original post by Jarrod1937 angles/perspective,

I'll grant you that one on Princess Whatshername--the other one that comes close is Psycrow, but that was kind of cut out of another design. However there is no way you could have known this.

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Original post by Jarrod1937 and anatomical knowledge.

I'll grant you that one on Evil Princess whats her name. I will continue to practice those areas on those characters.

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Original post by tstrimp Perhaps you should look into the Freehand Drawing Workshop. Although I'm not sure how active it is.

Last I checked that, it was filled with the usual draw from real life tasks... the only problem is, for whatever odd reason, whenever I try to draw from life, it doesn't look natural... what I mean is: I need to understand drawing convention--and not try to figure out how to draw something, that somebody else figured out how to draw. Instead I need to look at how they drew it, and make my drawing based on that. For some reason, I draw better by convention, than trying to re invent the wheel, and come to those conventions normally.

i just read my post and i owuld like to apologize if it seemed mean. i was typing that in between classes at my college and had to go so i just posted what i had... which wasn't much. i was going to give more constructive feedback. and i will probably do so later on tonight after i get some crap done.

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Original post by Anonymous Poster Quote: Original post by DakeDesuLast I checked that, it was filled with the usual draw from real life tasks... the only problem is, for whatever odd reason, whenever I try to draw from life, it doesn't look natural... what I mean is: I need to understand drawing convention--and not try to figure out how to draw something, that somebody else figured out how to draw. Instead I need to look at how they drew it, and make my drawing based on that. For some reason, I draw better by convention, than trying to re invent the wheel, and come to those conventions normally. This is very, very wrong. Take my word for it. That phrase "reinventing the wheel" does not apply to art. Your drawings look like a patchwork of different elements that you've copied very poorly and have absolutely zero understanding of. That's because you cannot re-use art the way you can re-use code, not unless you have basic drawing skill yourself (which you seem to lack at this moment in time, no offense). It's just silly to use that phrase, and frankly a bit offensive to any serious artist.

I'm only an amateur artist myself, but I wouldn't go as far as saying getting ideas from other artists is "very, very wrong". I don't see anything wrong with using other artists work for ideas for how to draw things, especially for cartoons. Through practicing through styles that you like from your favourite artists you can then develop your own style. I use photos and other cartoons as ideas for my own little cartoons all the time (although admittedly I wouldn't call myself a proper artist, not yet).

DakeDesu: Thanks for reminding me about the Freehand Drawing Workshop; I've really got to get back into that. I'd recommend trying a bit of real-life drawing even if you only want to draw cartoons. Cartooning is easier than real-life drawing because you can rely on tricks to get you through, but to be versatile enough to draw anything you need to be able to draw things just as you can see them.

As for your pictures: are you copying from examles or drawing your own (I haven't played Earthworm Jim, so I'm unsure). Also are you going through a draft stage? I like to block out my cartoons first as a series of simple geometric shapes. Put in some guides so you know which way the body parts are facing, then flesh out the details.

Also, you'll need to work on your feet and hands. These are a devil to draw; I'm terrible at them myself, so you need to practice these over and over again until they start to look right.

If you're serious about cartooning I think I recommend some good books in my Inksape tutorial that is present in my signature; I'm aiming for a cartoon style in my own work so most of my books are in that vein. Also that reminds me to write a second tutorial; I've slacked off a bit there. I'll have to brush up on my cartooning and write a character drawing tutorial [smile].

Just FYI, the Freehand Drawing Workshop is back in session and active.

Note that Picasso, considered the greatest artist of the 20th century by some (whatever) and generally noted for his non-realist renditions was an exceptional classically trained painter and artist. A firm foundation in perspective, proportion, pose and anatomy makes any kind of drawing easier. The reason classes that teach these fundamentals deal with the real world is because our experience of the real world is generally consistent, while our perception of fantasies that may lie inside our heads are completely subjective: it is easy to say if a drawing of the Eiffel tower looks like the Eiffel tower, but very difficult to say that someone's imagined character looks wrong.

For the record, I've been working on caricatures and metaphorical representations (often using anthropomorphic techniques) recently, but my foundation in formal, traditional art has been invaluable. Even if you don't want to participate in the workshop, I urge you to get some form of training - just reading a good drawing/painting book will help.

Good luck with your art.

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Original post by DakeDesu Princess Whatshername

I think you need to give her a beard...and draw pieces of hot dog chunks and mustard stuck in the beard to make it look like he/she is a cabbie driver from Brooklyn.

Other than that...Don't get discouraged if it doesn't look perfect at first. I agree with initial comments. You can pick up other people's style and apply your own touches later. For now, worry more about drawing things for what they are and learn to train your eye to detect differeces between source and your own interpretation of that. You'll do fine.

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Original post by Anonymous Poster I feel like I'm repeating the obvious here, but I wasn't saying that being inspired by someone else is bad. But here's someone who's still very much untrained, who tries to skip the whole getting-good-at-drawing part and wants to become a cartoonist right away. Which is just silly, I hope you'll agree.

Depends on your definition of "cartoonist". Have you seen some of those strips you get in newspapers? Being able to draw isn't exactly a prerequisite [smile].

Cartooning is funny in that it is entirely possible to get decent results by learning a series of tricks that "work", which is part of the reason why I like the medium; it's easier to get good looking cartoons than life drawings. The big downside is that as an artist you'll be extremely limited in what you can draw, meaning you'll never be as good or versatile as a artist that doesn't need to rely on the tricks.

Well no one really expects to look at a work of art when looking at the funnies. People are usually in too much of a rush in the morning to enjoy any kind of great detail in a 2 to 3 frame comic. You definitely have to know how to draw well before being able to draw badly though, to good effect anyways. I believe there are rules, universal constants that connect all of the great comic artists in their stylistic development. The success of those styles likely revolves around developing an associable consistent thematic (in overall artistic style) that people can identify with quickly and easily. Thats the difficult part of it because the comic visuals have to be generally very threadbare in the actual layout of the drawing but also have a flair that catches the eye.

Its in my belief that commitment to vision is of the greatest necessity when developing a drawing style. To make sure that there is enough stablity and consistency within visual schemes such as shapes and proportions with particular parts of the human anatomy or some other mechanic of the drawings work to keep the style grounded so that people can understand there is a form to it all and therefore be more open to accepting the credibility of the layout. A drawing can be crappy and still be good if there is a consistency to that crapness. its all about purpose and the visual cues help sell this premise. That is why its important to sell it with consistency.

People (especially the artist behind Ren and Stimpy) were chiselling family guy for its lack of artistic 'merit' in the visuals. It is true that the drawing style of the show isn't flashy but the animators and artists are very committed to making the bland character models come to life so that the characters themselves are easier to 'see'. I mean, the drawing style itself isn't so distracting that the nuance of each character becomes difficult to follow. The incredible voicework is what sells the characters but the fluidness of the design in Family Guy makes it easier for the characters to become fully realized. I find that the simplicity of the design in Family Guy to be one of its strengths. Its not groundbreaking but it doesn't need to be. The characters are much more identifiable and as a result endearing in the long run. This is one of the many reasons why Family Guy is technically brilliant.

Anyways, training is essential if anything for realizing little things like this that artists can work with while trying to create a layout for a new fictional universe. I wanted to draw comics for a long time but simply don't have the talent or patience for that kind of work. Maybe I'll pick it up again.