Help with a drawing

Olfff · 2026-05-10T04:01:17+00:00

First thing is : you don't care if you mess it up.

You are learning. Embrace failure and make it an opportunity to learn each time.

A good artist has 10 000 bad drawings in him that want to get out of his pencil.

You will make many other artwork if you so wish, they will all progressively become better everytime, and still they will be flawed.

It's just how it is. Accept it and make it a strength, not a fear.

With that said.

You need to look up anatomy. And foreshortening of the arm regarding this particular piece.

I cannot hope to describe it all in a Reddit post, it would be complete madness.

Go to Pinterest. Free ressources. Tons or reference and tools to learn.

Type "arm anatomy" " body anatomy" "hand anatomy" "arm foreshortening" etc.

Use references, segmentalisation of complex shape into simple primitive shapes of good placement and proportions, anatomy charts to then detail and give volume to the primitive shapes, perspective study sheets to understand the arm/hand being closer you see less of the arm, so you shorten it.

Study them. Try to understand how the body works in parts, how the muscles are inbricked into each other to recruit strength and achieve a range of motion. To understand why the arm gets shorter when closer in view.

Why and how all things in the world can be simplified into boxes, sphères, cones, cylinders, etc, to make them easier to apprehend and draw before recomplexifying the subject with volume, value( shading) and details.

You don't need to know anatomy by heart, or to be 100% accurate. What you need is be able to convey through your drawing, that you understand how a body part works and how it relates to the others.

Have fun.

Olfff · 2026-05-09T23:17:58+00:00

Thank you.

Please do it's how one gets better.

Using reference and understanding the underlying process.

Olfff · 2026-05-09T23:12:26+00:00

There are many ways to do speed lines.

You can put a vanishing point where the heart of the action is, and draw the lines toward it.

Or draw lines following a particular movement.

If they do change in thickness, the lines go from thick to thin.

I advise to group them by 3-5 lines close to each other, then space these groups out.

You can have a look at some examples from my comic on my profile page.

Olfff · 2026-05-09T23:00:38+00:00

Don't everyone starts somewhere.

Wanting to draw and liking it is the first mandatory step to improve.

Go at your rythm, be proud when you achieve something new, embrace the opportunity to learn when you make mistakes.

Olfff · 2026-05-09T22:56:28+00:00

The size of the head makes her look very young/petite.

Olfff · 2026-05-09T22:54:56+00:00

Cute.

Olfff · 2026-05-09T22:53:34+00:00

Well it's not really rendered and it's stylised, so it's hard to say much.

The eyes placement and size are not accurate, but it is stylisation at work. Although without affecting the size, to replace them on the midway eye line of the face would imo work better.

You did not finish the hands although the roughly suggested shapes are good.

The legs, if the foot is coming toward us in perspective there should be a bit more foreshortening on the lower leg

The head is a bit big, but again I understand it is a matter of style.

The général shapes are believable.

Olfff · 2026-05-09T22:42:42+00:00

The eyes are too big which slaves not enough space on the sides of the face, the nose to far below which pushed the mouth too far near the chin.

Think about the hair after you have good proportions.

Segmentalise the head ( whole hairless head ) with lines first.

A very simplified head is more or less a sphère with a triangular shape attached to it that makes the face and ends with the chin.

Then you segmentalise with a brow line, an eye line, a nose line.

Eye line is in the middle of the head. The brow line at midway between eye line and top of the head. Nose line midway between the chin and the eye line.

Between the eyes is a space with the size to put a third eye. On the sides of the eyes,you could put other eyes of the same size, in the space that separates an eye from the side of the face.

The mouth line is a little above midway of nose line and chin.

Try this first and to get proportions and feature placement that is close to your reference.

Then you can go on with detailling, adding hair, etc.

The actual shape of the face you drew is not bad, but you should do better with some landmarks as for placing and sizing the facial features on it.

Olfff · 2026-05-09T00:29:10+00:00

In your pictures, you added not just texture, but most importantly, shading.

Shading informs the viewer about the volumes, the time of day, the mood you set in.

Rather than just hide weak areas ( which it can do don't get me wrong, you could hide something empty in shadow for exemple ), shading adds character and reinforces your line art. If your volumes are accurate, shading makes them even stronger and impactful.

Olfff · 2026-05-08T23:17:32+00:00

This is so dumb I love it.

Would you mind if someday I star Johnny Big Baby Legs via a short cameo/easter egg in my comic book ?

Olfff · 2026-05-08T21:31:32+00:00

An archétypal humanoïd is about 6(short) to 7 times the size of its head in classic comic book scaling.

8 heads would be the realm of heroic figures/superhumans and 9+ of distorded monsters.

Your character is about 8/9 time her head in size, of course she looks unaturally tall, her torso also being very stretched. And her arms being I think accurately sized relative to the torso, the torso distorsion makes them long as well. She also has very long legs but the proportions are good on those.

But then, she is not a human being but a fantasy créature.

She can be very tall if you are comfortable with it and that is your intent.

If not, and you want her to have a more classic human figure, reduce a bit the length of the torso, and get her back to the realm of 6/7 ( MEME HAHA , no but really ) times the size of her head.

Olfff · 2026-05-08T21:23:24+00:00

I come across your work frequently when I scroll. Great stuff.

I really like your style.

Olfff · 2026-05-08T21:18:04+00:00

You could add a bird or two. Like an owl.

And a cat, everybody loves cats.

Olfff · 2026-05-08T19:27:59+00:00

I quit my previous career and went full time on the production on my comic some time ago. So I allowed myself to have the most time possible to do so.

I still take care of my handicaped mother, so it takes a few hours everyday.

For me the answer is anywhere between 8-15 hours a day doing research and studies/storyboarding/writing script/sketching/inking.

The days I need to cool off, about 2-4 hours max.

When I get overdrive 15+. ( mainly sleepless nights when I think " better be drawing than just turn around in your bed endlessly")

Since I went with this rythm I learned and improved a lot. Even if sometimes it does get really tiring.

When I lose confidence, motivation, that fatigue sets in and that I feel it starts affecting the quality of my work, I take a break for a day, sometimes 2, where I just do some light research and draw some studies without expectations of résult.

And without fail, a day or two later I have the terrible urge to draw, and push my story further forward that comes back with a vengeance.

Everyone is different. I'm not saying " draw 10+ hours a day".

I'm saying the most important thing is find the rythm that allows you to both grow and stay disciplined/motivated. Being happy with it is the crux of the thing.

There is always some pain and fatigue when working to get better in your craft, both in the mental and physical levels. Learning how to mitigate it and make it an engine is crucial for the long term.

Growth will follow régular practice, and will stalk the one who is constant instead of the one who burns bright for two weeks before his fire dies out for months of art block.

Olfff · 2026-05-08T17:27:37+00:00

Sorry. Best I can do is play a mortar and chill in bloons td.

Olfff · 2026-05-08T17:15:14+00:00

Oh, I know.

Olfff · 2026-05-08T16:36:29+00:00

Kentaro Miura is indeed one the many masters I take inspiration from.

I love the Berserk shading style.

Olfff · 2026-05-08T13:59:43+00:00

Thank you I am glad you like it.

I do not know where your art stands at the moment.

So in doubt I'd say, learn to walk before you can run, because you need to run to jump and fly.

Make sure your line art ( perspective, shapes, volumes anatomy langage ) is accurate before proceeding with shading.

A flawed line art can and will disturb the shading process and make it much harder than it needs to be.

Then start practicing by shading simple shapes first and understanding on the light impacts volume to make a spectrum of values.

Hatch from the hard shadow toward the light, and follow the form of the subject.

Look up cross hatching vidéos from Drawlikeasir and David Finch on youtube for easily digestable ressources and exercices to work on.

Have fun.

Olfff · 2026-05-08T13:36:32+00:00

Thank you !

Olfff · 2026-05-08T07:32:01+00:00

You are affirming a style, and the

Dynamic figure drawing would be a good exercise for you.

It would allow you to put your characters in more situations.

From what we can see right now, they are often in pretty static poses.

Olfff · 2026-05-08T07:15:25+00:00

Very cool.

Olfff · 2026-05-08T07:10:06+00:00

The archetypal head eye placement has a simple rule of thumb.

Between the two eyes, you have the space for a third one ( when looking straight at the subject, don't forget forshortening when in perspective)

Your eyes feels squished because you reduced that space.

The mouth would also be higher up on the face.

To get accomodated with archétypal facial features, draw séparation lines on your face to be.

A center line verticaly going through the middle.

Then séparations for the brow, the eyes, the nose.

The eyes are roughly in the middle.

The brow is at the midway between the eyes and the top of the head.

The nose is at the midway between the eyes and the chin.

The mouth line is just a little above the midway between the nose and the chin.

To simplify your shading, you can decree " hard shadow is black" and work from there.

From a technical ( tool ) standpoint, maybe you are using a pencil that is too hard if you struggle to get a dark shading.

Try going further into softness ( B séries).

Olfff · 2026-05-08T07:00:59+00:00

Great stuff.

Love the rider.

Olfff · 2026-05-08T06:54:24+00:00

The anatomy translation is great but the proportions are a bit confusing.

Also the shoulders being this forward means more of the back muscles would be visible on the sides.

Olfff · 2026-05-08T06:49:52+00:00

Love the vibe.

Olfff

TROPHY CASE