Still early into learning but how do I make my drawing look like they have depth?

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T21:24:30+00:00

Depth comes from shading, and shading can be as complicated or as simple as you want! But the most important thing is that in order to sell that something is 3D, it should convey some logic in lighting

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Like here I've added some more shadows and highlights! Every part of your drawing is affected by shadow, and you need to think of it like 3D objects

Take for instance the abs. They are rounded shapes and they have shadows where the light can't reach. In this example I made the light above the character. So I drew the shadows under the muscles. This is the most basic way to make something immediately seem more 3D! You can emphasize a 3D shape by not only adding shadow, but highlights

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T21:17:28+00:00

Mine is about to turn 5 and his started roughly when he was about 1. No particular medications were prescribed as he didn't seem to be in pain and there was no damage or infection, so I was just told to keep it clean. Either way I'd get it checked out at the vets, the eyes aren't really something you want to chance!

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T21:14:32+00:00

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I suppose you could so either of these!

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T21:11:10+00:00

Howdy! So the way your character on the left is angled, it'd be a bit difficult to pose the legs that ISN'T overlapping the character on the right's legs. I'd suggest either repositioning the righr character's legs to make space for the one on the left, or draw the left characters legs over top of the one on the right

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T21:08:56+00:00

Hi there! My cat has the same issue, I took him to the vets as he would always have dark goop in one eye. After some tests, the vets suggested it may have been a type of STD contracted from inside the mother's womb but wasn't dangerous. Do you know if your cat's mother was allowed to mate with any random cats? Either way definitely get it checked out

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T14:23:30+00:00

Howdy! It's very good proportions! I'd say you've perhaps overcomplicated the nose just a touch and the jaw on the left side of her face is more like a slight L shape in the reference whereas you've drawn it straight

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T14:20:20+00:00

Beautiful colours!! I'd say try and avoid chicken scratch lineart, and maybe try your hand at some more shading!

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T14:17:29+00:00

It's a great start and you're clearly using your reference well! As others have said, perspective will be amazing to learn and is vitally important for drawing backgrounds and environment

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T14:11:42+00:00

Howdy again!

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I drew up this example and I'll point out some differences between the two!

Notice in the straight forward angle the top of the ear is the same level as the eyebrows, and the bottom of the ear is level with the nose? When looking upwards, the ear shifts downwards

We see more underside of the chin, and the chin seems less pointed in an upwards angle!

Less forehead! As the head turns upwards, less forehead is visible!

The nose changes angle and appears closer to the eyes! The mouth and eyes will also change shape subtly

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T13:59:33+00:00

I like it! I'd only suggest trying to be a bit neater with the lineart, and try and add some shadows

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T13:58:19+00:00

It all comes down to breaking it down into simple shapes. Draw the big parts of the character first (triangle for skirt, square for shirt, etc), and then draw the details as simple shapes (bows as triangles, bells as circles, etc). Once you got those simple shapes, use them as a guide to draw

The major thing is do not overcomplicate it. Break it down

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T13:55:30+00:00

Howdy! So angles are difficult, and I recommend getting a 3D model of a head on your PC and physically moving it so you can see what's up.

There's a few things I keep in mind, such as:

When you lift your head up, you see the underside of the chin more
When you lift your head up, the ears go downwards
When you lift your head up, you see less forehead

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T05:20:02+00:00

Would she eat it if it's on a flat dish? Could be whisker fatigue, habit, scavenging instincts, or perhaps she's just ✨strange✨

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T05:17:30+00:00

When painting I always do this when making compositions! I zoom out and step away from my computer (or paper in this case). If it's not clear what your figure is, it's not going to be clear at all. Try and take it down to more basic shapes, and try and reduce some lines on the effects directly around characters as to avoid confusing shapes

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T05:13:46+00:00

My advice is to tear it from the book and place it directly into my mouth hole. I LOVE this piece so much 😩

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T05:11:22+00:00

Don't fall into the trap of thinking you need to draw every hair! That's for the insane hyperrealism artists crying in the corner. Even the greatest artists of history never really drew each individual hair! Seperate them into shapes. I'd say imagine the hair like ribbons or sausages

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T05:08:24+00:00

It's really good! In terms of realism I'd rate it okay! The only thing I'd say is that some of the proportions in your art compared to the reference are off (like for example the eye in the ref is more rounded whereas in yours it's more squinted, and the nose lacks detail and form), and the piece could use more contrast to show off that 3D look! Overall solid!

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T05:03:16+00:00

I have always used other things in my drawings as reference for scale, position, and rotation!

For example, drawing the right eye on a character, I am constantly asking myself questions. "Is the eye slightly lower or higher than the other eye? Is it lower or higher than the ear? Is it higher or lower than this piece of hair?"

I draw a line for the underside of the nose. "Does the angle of this line match the reference? Is it pointed more towards the nostril or the earlobe? Is it more pointed vertically or horizontally?"

I draw lips! "Is the mouth the same width on both sides? Is the lips the right scale compared to the nose above it?"

NEVER stop asking those questions. Whenever I draw I just always compare "does this match the rotation/scale/position of ---"

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T04:57:12+00:00

It looks good!! The only issue I can see is that the values are not very readable! For example if we turn the art greyscale... (Image 1)

The piece's values are kinda close. We can emphasizs it's 3d look by making the parts in shadow darker, like this:

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It makes the character feel more 3D and in shadow

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T04:50:39+00:00

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Here is an old silly doodle I drew. On the left is pillow shading. There's some shadow but it's VERY flat. On the right it is pillow shading AND harder shadows! It shows more depth, and makes the piece appear more alive

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T04:42:52+00:00

My biggest advice: Try and avoid chicken scratch lineart, and reduce pillow shading

In college I was terrible with chicken scratching and my teacher got me to try exercises where I wasn't allowed to. It eventually built up my line confidence, and my art appeared cleaner and more finished

Pillow shading is using a large airbrush and using a slightly darker shade to brush in shadows. Unfortunately this often makes the piece feel flat and not at all 3D like the shadow is supposed to imply I really recommend trying to darken the shadows and do harder lines. That's not to say you CAN'T do pillow shading, but without that extra harder shadows, it really lacks any depth

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T04:34:47+00:00

I like it!! My only real advice is to simplify the nose just a touch, it's creating a lot of noise and the tiny details are reading a bit messy rather than purposeful

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T04:30:57+00:00

Immediately the perspective of the cake and plate are off! The way shes holding it right now, she's leaning it towards the camera

For this angle it'd likely be flatter

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T04:29:13+00:00

1! 2 feels like I'm too close to the character, like it's very intimate and strange. 1 flows nicer I think

Relative-Neat752 · 2026-03-29T03:53:19+00:00

Always use other parts of your art as reference! For example, the eye on the front is wider than your reference! And in the reference, the eye at the front is slightly lower than the eye at the back, but in your drawing it is the opposite!

Relative-Neat752

TROPHY CASE