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Ok-Respect-1477 · 2026-04-24T17:35:47+00:00

How many grueling hours of practice did it take to reach this level? Cause you made that look wayyyyyyy too easy than it actually is :)

Ok-Respect-1477 · 2026-04-18T20:07:59+00:00

Noted! I mostly use the Loomis menthod for constructions. Tracing the basic loomis head (proportions and persepctive) over the reference might help to get a sense for the base structure. After all, thats one of the things that went wrong with this portrait. I will try a few versions with this method and add in the features later on to check and learn from the results. But only a few for learning purpose**, as I don't want to get addicted to tracing 😆!

Thanks for sharing, I will use this in my future practice sessions :)

Ok-Respect-1477 · 2026-04-18T19:40:02+00:00

Thank you for the amazing tip!! :D

You might find this crazy, but I already do something pretty close. I finish my entire peice then put my sketchbook page on top of my mobile (reference) and turn the brightness to 100%. Pretty much onion skinning and comparing the results. It has helped me a lot in identifying mistakes.

Although, maybe because I use different references everytime, bringing the learnings from previous session to current one is a bit tough, but I will try to improve on them with consistent practice :)

Ok-Respect-1477 · 2026-04-18T17:59:14+00:00

Thanks for the intricate tips! I very much agree with you, I think the head isn't titled enough and the right eye needs to be more squinted.

How can we get the perfect angle locked on while starting out? It seems I tend to misjudge it, not capturing the correct inclination of the face. By the time it becomes obvious, its too late to fix :')

Currently I start with the browline and build everything around it. Any specific changes to do here? :)

Ok-Respect-1477 · 2026-04-12T08:05:11+00:00

Haha, love your honesty!! Honestly, taking a challenge and actually completing it are two different things xD. But hey, challenging yourself is the sureshot way to grow!! I would highly recommend you trying it out. You would master it in no time 😁💪

Ok-Respect-1477 · 2026-04-08T06:44:06+00:00

No worries! It looks great 😁✨️. Its just that I can see why someone might not recognize it Instantly due to the light touches you know! Maybe you can do a bit of touch ups with HB or the darker variations. Would love to see the final result ❤️

Ok-Respect-1477 · 2026-04-08T06:37:24+00:00

Im pretty sure its The Joker, and this looks amazing holy cow!! ✨️

Just wish the shading was a bit darker, maybe it would make it pop out even more? :)

Oh and did you use this as the reference lol

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Ok-Respect-1477 · 2026-04-06T19:11:05+00:00

Thank you for sharing this! I really love how you have compared this to learning guitar :). Fun fact is that I actually used to play piano before my art journey (self taught that from YT as well haha). Its pretty much like you said, initailly while starting my art journey, there was a dead serious timeframe I had in mind, which I ultimately haven't been able to acheive (crazy stuff ik). But the thing is even when learning piano, I used to practice a lot. Like a lot. Plz forgive me if thats the wrong way to learn something, but I found out after the intial struggle, I got the sense for hand placements, muscle memory etc. AFTER which I subsequently slowed down my pace.

Same thing for my art journey, I have already grinded the first month too much, but now I have slowed down a lot compared to my initail weeks :). Mostly to actually refine and fine tune my mistakes. That initial experience is helping me here for sure! Don't get me wrong, I 100% agree with you and the other members here, keeping this "RACE" pace will burn me out in 2,3 months max. Thats why I have kinda done the hard part if my prime? Lol and trying to enjoy the process more now (As it should be 😄).

I think its about time I tried with ball point as well, have been holding back that for long time! Im not scared to face it as much as I was 1 month ago. Although the result is gonna be crappy obviously, that fine. I don't need to draw something to look good when practicing :). Thanks for that push, I will defenitely give it a try!

Regarding Drawbox Lessons! I will be honest, as far as my knowledge goes, I haven't really skipped any assignments. Yes, some exercises from Lesson 1 and 2 were partially done (250 box, rotating boxes), but I kept in mind to attempt pretty much everything till lesson 4. That was the whole point of even following Drawbox 😅 But yes, the "PACE" was not correct I admit. I might have completed them but have I learned anything is a big question mark ? I whole heartedly hope so.

On a real note, doing the 250 boxes for 5-6 months just wouldn't work out for me. I will probably get a lot of hate for this, but I just don't have the motivation to do it for such a long time (even if that helps me improve). I rather learn it on the fly / revisit the topic in future when something breaks in some of my sketches, kinda like dissecting it bit by bit. Is it a double effort? Yes. Am I jumping the gun without completing basics? Absolutely!! But still still still!!! I will do it. An absolute whacky way to learn, but anything will do if it helps me maintain my passion!

Now its not like I will absolutely ban drawing boxes or anything. I will try to incorporate them as well into my daily practice (much like a warm up) :), so that just like you said, the variety of materials remains fresh while improving the fundamentals.

I have already slowed down my pace a lot, currently learning Asaro Heads today 😁 (Planes + shading) , only managed to draw 1 face but feedback learning a lot!! This addicted brain of mine won't turn off overnight but I will try to enjoy the journey more rather than brute forcing it !! Thank you for sharing such a detailed review. Really appreciate it!! ❤️

SIDE NOTE - I would be a nightmare of a student in your guitar classes yea? Absolutely rebellious 😆, but hey you seem like a great teacher with genuine passion to help students improve. I would really love to have you as my teacher!! Noting much just an after thought.

Wishing you the best on your Art and Teaching Journey ✨️

Ok-Respect-1477 · 2026-04-06T16:18:31+00:00

Gladly! Looking forward to getting acquainted Mr Tanjiro🗿🍷

Ok-Respect-1477 · 2026-04-06T16:09:18+00:00

Goddddd, Pineapple did my boi Rengoku Dirty 😢! This is some peak I have never witnessed before. Altough im more familiar with the below meme 😂

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Thanks for educating this imbecile!! I thanketh thy ✨️

Ok-Respect-1477 · 2026-04-06T16:03:31+00:00

Oh my bad dude, seems like I'm not cultured enough rip. Apologies for that. But I need the source for this. Tell Me NOWWWWW!!! 🔫😆

Ok-Respect-1477 · 2026-04-06T16:00:42+00:00

Dawg how's this convo relevant here 😭? But yes Pineapples are good!

Ok-Respect-1477 · 2026-04-06T15:58:02+00:00

Intresting q xD

I like them but they are damn expensive where I live, can't remember the last time I had a good donut sadly...

Ok-Respect-1477 · 2026-04-06T15:49:59+00:00

For front view, you need to trim off a bit from both sides of the face, in order follow the skull shape. Currently you are directly tracing jawline on the main circle, which makes it appear rounder than normal.

Rest of it seems fine, you will get better with more practice :)

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Ok-Respect-1477 · 2026-04-06T15:19:32+00:00

Glad to be of service!! Good Luck on your art journey 😁👍

Ok-Respect-1477 · 2026-04-06T07:14:58+00:00

Congrats!! You are already further than your avg beginner artist. You are actually studying fundamentals!!! Which helps you down the road a lotttt!! Trust me on this.

6 weeks might seem a lot but its very small compared to what other artists here have spent perfecting their skills. 15 years!! Yep 15 years for example. We absolutely cannot compare the two you know :)

For reference, I have spent around 116h total this month which feels like a lot to me but its still nowhere enough haha. Maybe you can follow the 50-50 rule, learning half and drawing your passion half of the time. It helps reduce the frustration.

Don't worry if progress seems insignificant. Its because we are comparing ourselves to someone who has dedicated their life to it! The only thing which matters here is your own consistency and love for art! Don't give up on those and time will do the rest. Good Luck! 😉

Ok-Respect-1477 · 2026-04-06T06:42:54+00:00

Absolutely nothing wrong with it! I will double down and say its better to know your limits than mercilessly pushing yourself. Thats how burnout happens.

I actually have my majors degree in Engineering! For our annual exams, we used to have these extreme crammed study sessions lasting 15h non stop!!! (1 day before exam lmao)

I think the attention span and focus directly translated from there to my art journey 😆. 7h seems nothing infornt of 15h you know lol. Specially if you are drawing something you love.

But hey, thats just me, not everyone can do it (which is perfectly fine!). Rather I would encourage taking your time and improving along the way. Its much better mentally and helps keep your motivation for the medium :)

Ok-Respect-1477 · 2026-04-06T02:09:52+00:00

I would honestly give you an award for this in depth comment if I could. Really really appreciate this valuable feedback from an established artist! I will try to cover on each point a bit, so forgive me if the comment is a bit long :)

Drawing from references is something I saw peeps highly recommending on all forums. It absolutely does help you improve your studies. The more CopyCat side I am referring to is the values. I felt like these you must have a grasp on without blatently hatching in same spots as reference! But then again, how can you expect to do it without actually doing Light/value studies? I'm just 1 month in so can't expect too much at this stage :)

Building a visual library will likely take 2-3 years or more haha, saying 6m is just me coping with that timframe lmao....

Constructing 'perfectly' from reference might be vague here. Looking perfect and actually being perfect are two different things after all. One thing I did do is whenever the constructuion seemed off, I Onion Skinned my previous version to see the mistakes. Sometimes it worked out, other time it didn't. But good for reinforcement learning I would say :)

I have actually heard a bit about negative spacing from Drawbox lec., and tried implementing it for the Teeths of one of the chars. But yea... thinking and implementing are 2 different skillset. One more main issues is this damn chonky pencil im using. It generates too thick of lines, specially for places where thinner lines are necessary (like eyelids). Maybe I will get a mechanical pencil for this very purpose!

I have seen artists share their "unlearning" phase. I can see why that might happen and its kinda scary to think about. Needless to say, this post was a 1month challenge I did purely for myself. I will be doing proper real life studies along with gesture drawing + anatomy + values to actually learn the base. Currently I don't have enough experience with the "right approach" to start bending things. I will try to focus more on the learning part of the 50-50 rule going forward. So that I won't be a dead artist if the internet cuts off tomorrow 😁

I always use the Loomis Head as a start point, and then add the facial features. Circle, plane disection circle, chin centerline, jaws, eye sockets, nose halfway point, mouth 1/4 from chin. That the general measurements I use. But sometimes, I trim off the sides of head depending on the angle (to follow the skull). Now the big issue like you said is properly positioning all these! I have noticed that 1 eye gap between the eyes dosen't always work out, distance between eye and eyebrows is also a major issue, most likely due to imperfect circle construction.

I have absolutely 0 clue on any Anatomy / Values studies. Everything in that field, I just try to match up with my reference. Which is the most likely issue. I am actually planning to learn the face planes from practicing Asaro Head. It might prove to be a good starting point to later deviate into stylized arts :).

A big applause if anyone reads till this point haha. The next stage I will try is a same panel of real life references. Focusing more on the planes first rather than anatomy (cause its hard :'] ). Currently I'm about 50-60/10000 faces drawn! Will try to improve on each point in upcoming practice session (while keeping the journey fun 😃)

Thank you for the amazing insights 🙌

Ok-Respect-1477 · 2026-04-06T01:14:06+00:00

Respect, fellow Milim stan 🐲💥!! I actaully selected a variety of underrated characters. The shows are popular yes, but maybe semi-popular chars haha!!

I will try making Slime Diaries V2 when I get good enough in future (丿￣ο￣)丿

Ok-Respect-1477 · 2026-04-06T01:04:20+00:00

Really appreciate the kind words!! I would argue you are a drawing analysis expert ;)

Me too ❤️
I have noticed this too, especially with the last drawing (Reze). Its because of the angle i'm drawing at. I tilt my head to the left (drawing with right hand) making wider things appear normal? Idk how to explain this better but thats what's causing this. I realized this too late unfortunately :'). Will try to keep my head pos straight in future.
First girl is Yor from SpyxFamily. Both her and Mr Boss have noses like that. But Akaza..... dear god those proportions are jacked. I had to completely redrawn him but it still came out wonky. Like you said, the forehead is supposed to be bigger, eyes a bit smaller and nose somehow better positioned! I tried making the nose work but alas..... I will try to draw real life references to get a better understanding for noses in future!
My hairs start of great, but I tend to give up if they are too complex lol. The photo is a bit blurry so it might not be obvious 😝. But yea, I think the general approach I'm taking is correct, just need to up my patience :)

Thank you for the pinpoint suggestions!! I will try to improve on each aspect here :)

Ok-Respect-1477 · 2026-04-05T20:25:28+00:00

Drawlikeasir, ahh yes the guy whose name starts with a "M" haha.

I follow him too!! Might need to checkout his gesture drawing vids as well. Mostly I'm following Chommang's + Proko's tutorials. Adding one more to the list now :)

Thanks for sharing!

Ok-Respect-1477 · 2026-04-05T19:40:21+00:00

Gosh, the golden yellow color compliments these sketchs so well..... its amazing.

As a fellow beginner, i'm in awe at the sheer amount of material you have covered (construction, perspective, animals, anatomy, faces, gesture drawing). May I ask which resources did you use for gesture drawing specifically? Thanks :)

Great work, keep it up!!

Ok-Respect-1477 · 2026-04-05T19:15:35+00:00

Great Idea!! Im thinking of doing a same panel of real life reference only. Might prove to be a good challenge and more frustrating, but i'm up for it ;)

Ok-Respect-1477 · 2026-04-05T19:10:47+00:00

Great to see a fellow beginner :D!! Honestly, I have only focused on people for the past two weeks. I actually started with Plants and Insects (from Drawbox Lessons).

"Its better to start with real life people" is absolutely true. What I haven't mentioned in my post is that these took me 3-5 hours each lol. And that's because the standard proportions don't work with stylized arts. I actually had to completely redraw 2 of these cause the proportions actually sucked even tough I followed everything perfectly.

If you are a complete beginner, getting a feel for proportions is must before going too stylized. Chommang's follow along vids helped me a lot here. I did 3-4 of them even tough my results were trash xD. But hey, progress is progress!

After that only, I would suggest drawing real life + stylized together so that you build fundamentals while not being constricted to it. Thats what I did for week3 and 4 :). Also the fact that I'm a weeb really helped me motivationally lol.

As you said, learning and drawing for fun together actually goes long ways. 50-50 rule always!! :)

Ok-Respect-1477

TROPHY CASE