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Well drawing for me started out as a coping mechanism when I was a kid and still is for me today (especially these days). I had a lot of problems with depression and anxiety as a child coupled with a fairly ignorant father that didn't recognize these things as mental problems. I was forced to try to find a way to deal with hordes of feelings and emotions that as a mere child I was incapable of understanding and drawing helped me do that. Around the time I was about 13 or so some close friends of mine started drawing and where WAAAAY better than I was, so that pushed me to start working on things like technique and different styles. I really liked Dragonball Z at that age so I started drawing pictures I printed out from the internet regularly and started drawing in an anime style and eventually began coming up with my own characters, my friends were really good at drawing in anime styles so they taught me a lot about it.

When high school rolled around (I'll say sophomore year or so) I took basic art 1&2 but I never really did too much because the course material was SO rigid that it didn't interest me. Ms. Huelett (the art teacher) felt like I had a lot of talent and took me under her wing in a big way. She knew A LOT about art and helped me learn and meld multiple styles together in order for me to create my own. She taught me a lot about anatomy and how to draw people/characters in different poses, how to properly shadow characters and apply light sources to my pieces, creating expressions and applying drama through a characters poses, she poured as much knowledge into me as she could and I couldn't be more grateful for all she taught me.

I know it isn't much (you've also been given some great advice already I see, which is fantastic) but I'll give you a few links to some books that really helped me learn more about various styles and techniques (I still have most of these books and refer to them fairly often, even now)

http://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-sketching-environments-imagination/dp/1933492732/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1404954561&sr=8-9&keywords=how+to+draw

http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Urban-Sketching-Location/dp/1592537251/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&qid=1404954800&sr=8-19&keywords=how+to+draw+graffiti

http://www.amazon.com/Street-Art-Doodle-Book-Outside/dp/1856696820/ref=sr_1_28?ie=UTF8&qid=1404954800&sr=8-28&keywords=how+to+draw+graffiti

http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Head-Figure-Perigee-Jack/dp/0399507914/ref=sr_1_28?ie=UTF8&qid=1404954902&sr=8-28&keywords=how+to+draw+books

http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Manga-Mark-Crilley-drawing-ebook/dp/B006WUD10S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404954990&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+draw+manga

http://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-Manga-Bodies-Anatomy/dp/4766112385/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1404954990&sr=8-6&keywords=how+to+draw+manga

http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Cutting-Edge-Anatomy-Reference-ebook/dp/B00G8ELT2K/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1404955084&sr=8-10&keywords=how+to+draw+comics

http://www.amazon.com/Draw-Comic-Book-Action-Garbett/dp/1440308136/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1404955084&sr=8-14&keywords=how+to+draw+comics

I think that's most of the books I've got, at the very least it'll give you some ideas to practice with and all of those books together isn't too bad of a price and it's a good way to get experience in the things you want to learn (I think) if you're not able to afford the classes you were suggested.

Good god this post is long as hell and I apologize for that, I'm just trying to be as helpful as I possibly can with what I know (call it a flaw)

I'll leave you with a few pieces of advice that help me out regularly and that I feel have gotten me to the level I'm at now (though I think I'm just ok at best truthfully)

1. Sketch whatever idea you have in your mind for something as fast as you can and just let your ideas flow through you. Don't give yourself time to say this part sucks I have to redo it, just go for it and you'll be surprised at what can come out of it.
   
   
2. Try to take inspiration from artists you admire but don't try to copy their style. What worked for me was incorporating my inspiration with various artists and merging them with my own ideas which eventually lead to me developing my own style(s)
   
   
3. Do your best to not look at your art as inferior to another persons artwork. Absolutely, have those people you look up to want to be like artistically and draw inspiration from, but do your best not to doubt yourself. It's YOUR artwork and YOUR ideas, the only person's opinions that matter are your own. If you're truly happy with what you've created and feel you've done the best you can then I promise SOMEONE out there WILL like your work as well, at least in my opinion.
   
   Sorry again for the book, I just hope I was at least a little bit helpful with the advice I was able to give and didn't come off as arrogant sounding or anything
   
   Best of luck and I can't wait to see what you do in the future :)
   
   

No, it's cool.

Fantasy works and comics - GREAT. That's different.

I thought you were talking about drawing in general.

OK, I hear you now. In this situation there are in fact books out there that show you step by step how to draw the human figure specifically for comics. Here's probably one of the best.

But don't forget the importance of being able to draw anything. A book like this is great, but it can also be misleading, which is why I suggested ignoring books in the first place. A book like this can lead you to think there's one way you draw people, another way you draw cars, another way you draw buildings -- and in reality it's all about composition, observation, discipline, etc, the same set of skills for all. People who can only draw one kind of thing are of almost no value in any such field, really.

Which is why it's important that you keep drawing ordinary things too. Still life - definitely but start thinking about your goals and advance from still life with fruit basket to still life with egg beater to still life with Storm Trooper action figure and lawn mower engine -- catch my drift? Drawing technological objects, so that you will be able to draw the super hero and invent a really cool star ship for him to drive.

And really draw still life things precisely. Challenge yourself and don't be easily satisfied. This kind of drawing is very athletic, you will find yourself straining your hands and arms to do this right. It's not a field for snowflakes. Be very self-critical. Look at your work like you're a comic book editor who just saw it for the first time and is really critical and picky. You'll get it, trust me, just give yourself time and patience and stay at it.

There's likely a community college somewhere in your area and you can probably pick up a basic drawing class there that can fast-track you on some of these skills at a pretty low cost.

And never ever stop looking at the kind of art you want to make. Challenge yourself to work up to its standards. Freely copy the best as practice. Artists have done this since time immemorial. Try to figure out what makes some comic panels better than others. Get it into your head, you know? Think it through. When you see a crappy one, think out loud how you'd have done that panel a lot better, and then go ahead and draw it better.

I'm glad I understand now. That's a fun field but it's packed, the competition is fierce, so if you really want this, make it your mission and your passion and just do this and be a geek about it. Many of the best artists are loners throughout their early careers - think about it. Draw every day, every chance you get. Draw til your hand hurts, shake it out, then keep drawing. When you can't draw, think about drawing. When your hands are busy doing something else, look around and think about how you'd draw things around you.

Best of luck to you.

Cal arts is very prestigious, so they might be looking for both talent yet room to grow, and that will Really show in your portfolio. So what should you add to the portfolio?

1: A Well executed Bouncing Ball animation. Laugh if you will but seriously, if you do this well, you will have solidified that you know the fundamentals of timing, spacing, and gravity.

2: A correctly implemented walk cycle. Again, might seem simple, but it is actually not. Walk cycles will be your bread and butter to whether or not you are a competent amateur or just a wannabe who won't put in the effort. Walk Cycles will give you the foundation of weight, anatomy, and movement.

3: Life drawings: drawings of nude people in interesting poses (don't draw pr0n, they'll kick you out if you add THAT to the portfolio). Take a cheap life drawing class. This will help increase your speed in drawing, but also help in capturing the bare bones shapes that make up the human figure. Also if the admissions office knows what they're doing, they WILL be looking to see if you know how to draw, cause if you don't know how to draw in their standards, you won't learn how to animate in their standards either.

Those three things are essential to learn and have in your portfolio. Note I said learn, not master. They don't have to be perfect, just enough that they can tell you know what you're doing, you're willing to put in the effort to practice things you might not like to do in order to improve the things you DO want to do, and show you'll be a perfect fit for their classes.

Now, how to learn these things? Youtube has an excellent amount of references for drawing bouncing balls and walk cycles, some even from Famous ex-disney 2D animators. (Bonus points btw) If you're in a spending money kind of mood, then this is your kind of book:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Animators-Survival-Richard-Williams/dp/0571202284

It truly is the Animator's Survival Kit, chock full of stuff that will help you learn the fundamentals of animation.

Now a few addendums to add to your portfolio. Add your creative stuff after you add the first three things. Concept art, Character Design, some animations of your own choosing, heck even a demo reel would be great. Beyond seeing whether you have the drive for animation, they want to see YOU, they want to see the you that is in your animations, your style, your emotion, your verve, your kookiness, your insanity, the you that you pour out into your work, and that you love whether it's crap or gold.


That's all for now, good luck, happy animating.

Artistically yours,

Io Kusanagi

I'm glad to hear that, though it's a shame to hear he's that sensitive about it. That's another reason I'd recommend against the gallery system (which I'm not a part of myself); many of my peers are and to be honest it's a very...unkind system.

I don't consider myself a sensitive artist but I deal with them on a regular basis so i understand your plight all too well. I might have an idea for how to help that. I recently bought this book, it's by James Gurney the author of the blog I linked to in the sub-comment of this. It could be an excellent christmas gift and at only $16 it won't break the bank. It's probably the single greatest book I've encountered about painting. It's succinct and well written and relies mostly on examples rather than big blocks of text. And if you decided to give it to him you could play it off pretty naieve like, "I know you like painting, here's a cool book about painting!" and probably not hurt his feelings.

Just an idea, might be a good way to circumvent the "sensitive artist" but still give him a good resource to improve.

In any case I salute your effort! Tell him to keep at it :D

Well, as a freshman in art school who has also had a few years in the real world I can offer some perspective. (BTW, my real world experence consists of street portraiture, landscapes and portraits by commission for about two years before going to school)..

You were probably the best painter/drawer in your school, but now you go to school with a bunch of others like you. Most everyone else is talented and if they don't appear talented it is likely they will blow you away in something like photography, or collage, or some other media with which you've never had much practice. So the field has been leveled and the only real difference between good and bad work is the amount of time you spend on it. There will be students who blow you away every week, and they spend more time on it than anyone else. There are students who suck on projects every week, and they spend very little time on their work.

Now, it is easy to tell who will be able to get work after graduating. Those that keep up their pace and keep working harder and getting better, they might have a fighting chance. A lot, and I mean a lot of people seem to plateau. Even more important than talent or skill is networking. I don't mean building a network of buddies, but talking to teachers, getting internships, doing freelance work, winning awards in your field, getting into exhibits, having a website, keeping contact with people you meet. Your network is a huge part of how you will achieve after you graduate, so try and get an internship as soon as possible.

For whatever reason, many of the students smoke waaaay too much pot and party waaaay too much. They place a lot of importance on their friends and having a boyfriend or girlfriend. Its a lot like any other school in that way.


As far as things you can do before going to school. If I were you I'd get some of the basic writing or english courses done at a local community college over the summer. That stuff takes up too much time and can really fuck up your art if you have to spend a lot of time thinking about paper writing. And if you are going to be in animation I suggest you read Animators Survival Kit because it is a good read. It has helped with my illustrations.

Even if you are going into animation. Your freshman year will likely consist of a lot of drawing in charcoal or pencil or whatnot

tldr; the playing field has leveled, because now you are among others just as good as you. time to build a network and start losing sleep. read Animators Survival Kit.

Yeah, you are right about the paper, I thought it was a bit bigger. The only thing to keep in mind is usually the bigger/nicer paper only has 10-20 sheets, which doesn't give you many chances to learn anything.

This seems like a good choice

This one is fun for kids because you can make little postcards for people, but they aren't very large.

I have this one sitting in front of me now, Its the larger version of the one I linked you yesterday.(Which is what I thought I was sending.) It seems pretty nice, and the journal seems to just stay open on its own btw.(Watercolor takes awhile to dry, so thats a good thing)

As far as quality paper, I've never had an issue with Srathmore or Canson brands.

Oh, and in regards to paint, this set might be worth considering as well. I've always really like koi stuff.

I hope that helps. Also, good on you for being charitable, I'm sure she will love whatever you decide to get her. Once again, let me know if you have any questions I might be able to answer.

The best thing you can do is get a few books/e-books or like Kissnellie suggests online guides.

I suggest Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing from Life , I also like Anatomy: A Complete Guide for Artists by Sheppard.

Basically just draw all of the images over and over again, they are like maps to the human body. Sure they won't be exact for every person - but getting an idea of how it looks will help you shape it better. Drawing figures (and anything) is about understanding it and yadda yadda.

Draw from life, gesture often from pixelovely, and Posemaniacs

If you practice for a while, you'll get a good understanding of the human figure pretty well :D

I might have some anatomy e-books if you're interested - drop me a message. I am currently taking a life drawing class, so it's all good fun if I can help others =3

There are a number of color theory books out there but I'm not sure that will answer all of your questions. I have a copy of The Elements of Color that I reference often. The thing is, there isn't really one solid formula for mixing paint. It mostly comes through practice and understanding the physics of color and how colors shift in tone, saturation, and hue. There is some really good advice in this post already. I have a few other sources you might be interested in.

Wet Canvas has some great forums for people like us who need help with this kind of stuff from time to time.

The Dimensions of Color has a very thorough breakdown of color. It is extensive and a harder read than maybe you are used to. Take it slow. Read it a few times. Refer to it often.

Color and Light by James Gurney is a great resource as well. Be warned, that it isn't necessarily a "how-to" but it will give you insight into how a professional artist goes about his work. He provides insight on techniques and palettes and things like that as well as phenomena seen in nature.

Take a look at those. Best of luck.

I'm right there with you. I tried a few different things (pencil, ink, paints, chainsaw, markers) I stick with a sketchbook with paper that is smooth and between 150gsm to 180gsm weight paper. Such as Moleskine or Daler Rowney (don't get too good a sketchbook or you'll be afraid to ruin it) (oh and the Daler Rowney is a bit more toothy, rougher than the Moleskine)

I have some Mitsubishi fine liner pens. A Pentel brush pen. A few cheap pencils. (F is hard, b is soft etc) and a couple obvious bits like a ruler, hard and a soft rubber. You don't need them, but sometimes I'll splash some colour in with either light watercolour or alcohol markers. A lot of the time I'm just sketching with a biro pen or a cheap mechanical pencil.

Go nuts and absolutely test those mediums to destruction in your sketchbook.

Draw what you see, copy everything you like, don't try to draw exactly like certain artists too much, and look at a sweeping variety of art. And don't get caught up with making everything a masterpiece. Draw everything quick and light, get caught up on the details later. So often I get bogged down on toes or hands and half an hour later I've drawn a great stick figure with beautiful hands.

I'd love to see how you do, keep us updated!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002AF8XFM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_ApTIzb98NWR8D sketchbook

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002N5MBNO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_0qTIzbE96P7YC Pens

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000J6BAV8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_.rTIzbX47MR84 Pencils. Though you could just get a couple from your local stationery or art supply store.

For computer game art. I could recommend you get the cheap version of Clip Studio Pro for 25 dollars (really powerful comic illustration software) then snap a pic of what you have drawn and colour it in there, touch up the blacks of your line work etc. You can do it all with a mouse once you do your line work on paper.

Finally, wow I went overboard with this comment. Check out sketchbook vids on Youtube, for yourself, check out Scott Robertson, his vids are all about his students and his sketchbooks, all in the area of designing and rendering cool stuff. Here's a link with John Parks sketchbook LOT OF MECHS https://youtu.be/Rv-LVUCZWyU

Mine aren't 92 year old grandma quality, but this might give you some idea.

• First you start with a center core. This can be many things, but mine tend to be fabric scraps stuffed in a bit of nylon pantyhose. I don't have a picture of this step.
  
• Then you wrap the whole thing tightly in yarn making sure to keep it nice and round.
  
• You wrap your yarn ball in thread. This gives a good base for the embroidery to be stitched to.
  
• Then you mark out your guidelines. This process can be tricky for complex designs. It involves a strip of paper with careful measurements and colored pins to help you know where to wrap your thread to next.
  
• Then you start your embroidery! For complex designs like this I also like to use colored pins to show me where I want what color. I didn't want two stars of the same color right next to each other on this one.
  
• Keep embroidering until your design is done. This one actually isn't finished, but it looks finished enough for purposes of step by step instructions. I'm adding some silver designs in between the stars though.
  
  Hope that helps! This website is a great resource and if you want to go further with it and would like to get a book I really liked this one.

I am by no means an expert artist so take this with a grain of salt but i can give you my advice:

it sounds obvious (and to be honest, pretty disappointing) but you just need to draw as much as possible, set aside an hour a day to just draw.

A good place is to start is to draw still-lifes with basic shapes at varying distances: something like this. this will let you start to develop an eye for lighting and how shapes and shadows interact. Search up how to properly shade if you're unsure.

while you're drawing these, start studying 1 and 2 point perspective: this slide makes it simple to understand and is pretty comprehensive. perspective is an essential tool which you'll need to understand.

keep drawing these basic shapes everyday, then start upgrading into more abstract shapes, things like wine glasses other shapes.
Maybe you can read Drawing on the right side of the brain?
It's probably one of the most highly regarded guide to drawing which really helped me to understand certain processes and logic behind drawing.

SIDE NOTE: Drawing from your brain memory/imagination is an incredibly difficult thing to do and not every artist is great at it. Use references and stills from life or books or the internet to develop your skill.

One of the greatest difficulties you will face is drawing what is there rather than what you think you see.

PM me if you ever need help with something.

I wouldn't critique this if I didn't like this-- so, disclaimer. I also realize it is a doodle, but you posted it on the internet, so I'm assuming you would like feedback.

A little more fluidity and variance in line weight would be nice. Your anatomy needs some work-- even if this is supposed to be stylized. The jaw is very square, more characteristic of a male face, and the eyes and pupils are not pointed the same directions (A good way to help with this is to look at the drawing in a mirror, ocular dominance can be a bitch). The mouth and the nose are too high up on the face and could be pulled down a little further. I don't think the lines for the clavicles were necessary-- they pull my eye away from the face. You did a really nice job shading most of the nose, but the rest of the face lacks structure and I'm not really sure where your light sources are going, especially with the reflections on the eyes. Maybe emphasize those a little more.

I did a really quick redline here to better illustrate my points.

Some good books to help with the fundamentals that are causing these issues:

• Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist by Stephen Rogers Peck
  
  
• Color and Light: A guide for the Realist Painter by James Gurney
  
  Keep up the good work!

The best thing to do is draw from life. Draw your pets or random people at a cafe. Use quick, light pencil strokes and don't erase. Just keep laying out lines as you form the object/person. Once you got the shape right, you can press harder and make those lines darker so they stand out against the exploratory lines. Basically you're chiseling away at something until it looks right. Make sure to draw quickly and not spend too much time with detail when you're drawing people and animals since they tend to move. Work on filling in detail with inanimate objects. It helps to gather random objects from around the house and make a still life.


And keep doing this. Even the best artists keep practicing and making quick, squiggly sketches. It helps you imagine things in 3D and translate that to 2D on paper. I learned all these things from art classes and talking to other artists.


My craft is animation, but having a good foundation in drawing is the most important thing before animating, painting, illustrating, and even sculpting. I learned animation with a book called The Animator's Survival Kit. And I did it by using a Wacom tablet and Flash (but there's a free program called Pencil). Even if you want to animate traditionally with pencil and paper, it helps to practice and learn quickly with digital tools.


I learned about the book and other tutorials by going on animation forums and talking with like-minded people. No matter what medium you choose, it really helps to communicate with people doing the same thing. Getting critiques is very important for improving. Others can spot mistakes you overlooked and point out how you can do better.

Okay, speaking as a disabled person, if you're going to be around this kid a fair bit you need to completely let go of this notion that his disabilities make him less capable of honing his talents. Not because you'll necessarily interfere with the development of his skills but because that attitude is incredibly toxic. He isn't talented despite being disabled, he is both talented and disabled. Happens all the time.

I would suggest buying him some books, like maybe this one Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing from Life https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1402766785/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_rS5AybXHBE8CN or How to Draw Cool Stuff: A Drawing Guide for Teachers and Students https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0615991424/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_ET5Ayb7CCF5ZN - find something that matches what he likes to draw or would like to draw. Make sure he has decent materials - they don't have to be top of the line, just decent. Take him with you to get the materials, let him start learning what's out there and figuring out what he wants to try working with next. Let him interact with the shop assistants as much as possible. Let this be his thing, and he will hopefully gradually expand his own horizons.

Unfortunately there are no quality printmaking magazines out there to my knowledge. Art on Paper was a real gem, but they folded last year. There are, however, a bunch of great blogs and websites. If you're looking for specific technique instruction, for litho there is no more definitive source than Tamarind. http://tamarind.unm.edu/tam_techniques.html

For more general techniques across all printmaking disciplines, Bill Fick's Printmaking guide is a great resource.http://www.amazon.com/Printmaking-Complete-Guide-Materials-Processes/dp/0205664539

Online I would recommend printeresting.org From there you can find a bunch of other stuff on the links page, but I check printeresting every day, and every printer I know does too.

Since you mentioned woodcutting, you might enjoy this video of Bill Fick showing off his great linoleum technique.http://billfick.com/2011/02/07/anatomy-of-a-linocut/

Thank you! Here's a quick list of the ones I can recall. :)

Figure drawing - Michael Hampton

alla prima - Richard Schmid

figure drawing for all it's worth - Andrew Loomis

drawing from life - George Bridgman

Color and light - James Gurney

As for videos, a whole lot of youtube ones, specifically from these channels;

Bugmeyer

Feng Zhu

Stylusmonkey

and a few workshop videos by Whit Brachna, Brad Rigney and Donato Giancola.

hope it helps some. thanks for the interest! :)

You go to places like Ringling to get good, you don't start out good when you arrive! Your work is better than mine when I applied. I've never taken an art class before being accepted either! Hell, your digital painting is better than what I can do now. Apply. It costs ~$100 and the worst thing they can do is say no. And apply to other schools, RISD, Cal Arts, SCAD that specialize on art and animation. If you want to do purely animation you might want to check out http://www.animationmentor.com/ they have a really great program. If they all say no then you have Clemson to fall back on.

The only reason I'd advise against a place like Clemson for animation is 90% of people in the industry seem to be from a private art school. You just don't see people from universities and community colleges. And there may be some out there, maybe more than I realize, however the numbers favor private art schools. All the recruiters that come to Ringling; Pixar, Dreamworks, Activision, EA, etc all say Ringling students make the best employees and that our students who get "C's" are better than the "A" students at state schools and community colleges. And the reality of it is, all the "A" and "B" students of Ringling are having trouble finding work and the "C" students are all working at Starbucks or Macy's like friends of mine are. I'm an "A" student, I received all A's in my computer animation classes with the toughest instructor at the school and I'm having a hell of a time finding stable work.

Again, anything is possible, however things highly favor a private art school versus anything else.

I also forgot to suggest this book: http://www.amazon.com/Animators-Survival-Kit-Expanded-Principles/dp/0571238343/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330614614&sr=8-1

It's hands down the best book on animation there is, I'm going to have to buy a new copy soon, mine is falling apart because I use it so much.

I see you have a good start to what could become a great passion for you. I personally love drawing and I think this book could be just what you need to teach you how to REALLY see things. There are things in the book that regular drawing teachers don't tell you how to actually visualize things. If you actually read it and do all the exercises I think you will find it very helpful! I did. :)
http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Right-Side-Brain-Definitive/dp/1585429201

You are a painter!
Casually for 8 years is a significant amount of time. Even the grandest painters are, in the most basic form, just pushing coloured mud around with a stick that has hairs on it so....no more noble than that!
Anyway, there is no finish line to art, we are all on a journey whether we have had formal training or not.
I have had formal training. I have a bachelor's degree in art with a focus on painting and sculpture. I am currently a high school art teacher and I have a studio at home to keep up my work.

You should look at Alex Grey. His subject matter might not be what you are into but his colours and layering remind me of your work...or you of him.

You should also check out Betty Edwards book on colour theory. It taught me a lot about how to emphasize my colour usage. I LOVE bright bold colours in my work!

I personally think the opposite. Photo realism is not "advanced". Painting impressionistically is not beginner either. What you need for impressionist painting comes off the back of photorealism. Copying a photo does not make you advanced. Infusing a photo with emotion and meaning makes you advanced. This painting is just that. And I love it. I am honestly tired seeing a photorealistic drawing and then clicking the comments just to see "Wow! I thought it was a photo" over and over again. Not to knock it, but this sort of work takes a different kind of skill. You need a handle (hah) on your brushwork and how you react to what you see. Difficult as fuck. Im still learning how to do this myself.

Learning "how to see" is definitely the cornerstone in becoming a better artist, though. That I agree with. Don't equate impressionism with not being able to do this. In my opinion they do it the best. I recommend anyone learning to pick up "drawing on the right side of the brain". Thats what personally helped me with getting things right. I used to draw photorealistic but I felt that it was an empty sort of exercise. Where do you go from there? Here. You go here. You express yourself.

Love the painting

I learnt to draw fundamentals of anatomical structure in humans and animals from Jack Hamm http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Head-Figure-Perigee-Jack/dp/0399507914
But the best advice is to get a pad of paper. Don't make it some fancy, super expensive art-store stuff. Then you'll never want to draw on it for fear of 'ruining it' (or atleast thats my compulsion). Just a pad of paper. Draw everything. Notice everything. Look at light, look at shadows, look at the basics of shapes and curves and how basic structures work. And draw. It'll look like crap. But keep drawing. The more you draw, the more you train your draw for neuroplastic reorganization that will, eventually, allow you to accomplish better and better drawings.

And don't draw with a damned mechanical pencil either. One of my art teacher gave me that advice and it's liberating. You get too caught up in the details.

Drawing is like building a house, build a good solid foundation, then add the fine details.

For drawings like these, you should vary the thickness of your lines more. Using different values for your lines will help your drawings pop. My friend, who is an accomplished artist, does a lot of drawings like these, here is a link to a gallery of some of his drawings that are similar to yours. Jack Graves III . Be sure to click the thumbnails for a full size view.

You should seriously consider getting a pack of art pens. They will help you immensely with this, and they are worth the less than $20 investment. Here are three to browse on Amazon. Prismacolor, Faber-Castell, and Sakura Micron Pens.

I was in a similar place

put a sketchbook in front of you - start there then work the piece digitally - be it scanning or just using the initial sketch as reference

Something is lost when you are drawing on a tablet but looking at a screen

that is unless you have a super awesome tablet that doubles as a monitor (drool)

also - this - Gurney is one of my heroes - he wrote and did the art for the dinotopia series

Hm, I've never had issues with leaking... And I often put them in a box with a bunch of other pens and markers knocking around. Their website gives a few reasons why Not storing them horizontally is a common reason.

I also don't use the 005's that much, so I guess that's why I never noticed them running out that quickly. A ball pen will definitely last longer but I just really don't like how long they take to dry. Microns are also archival quality.

Prismacolor makes very similar pens, among other companies, that maybe would work out better for you if you're interested in something like the Microns.

If you want top quality technical pens they get expensive quickly though some of them are refillable which helps.

http://www.jetpens.com/Copic-Multiliner-SP-Pen-0.3-mm-Black/pd/3388

http://www.jetpens.com/Rotring-Isograph-Pen-0.5-mm/pd/14709

http://www.jetpens.com/Rotring-Rapidograph-Pen-0.18-mm-Black-Ink/pd/8012

conceptart.org has some good stuff, they make DVDs too. You could probably pirate them, were you a person of low moral fiber.

There are some good books out there too, which you can probably get from the local library. You might need to use interlibrary loan though, my local libraries have a poor selection of art books, but there isn't anything they haven't been able to find at another library.

Color in Contemporary Painting

The Art of Color

Mastering Composition

Abstraction in Art and Nature

The Art Spirit

Some people don't care about theory, but personally I find it inspiring. Art in Theory 1900-1990 is a good collection of writings by artists, critics, and the like. If you're weak on art history you might want to study some of that first, History of Modern Art is pretty good.

Mark Kistler's Draw Squad for $.23 from amazon

It is aimed at kids, but it is a great start for fundamentals of drawing. After that, i'd pick up How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way

It has one of the best explanations for perspective that i have found

Edit: I suck at links

Here are the Micron pens on Amazon:
Sakura 30062 6-Piece Pigma Micron Ink Pen Set, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0008G8G8Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_HCfTzbB84JPJQ

If you want to look at other brands just do a Google search for fine-tip felt pens. Honestly don't worry about metal tips until later.

Here's a YouTube video you might find helpful:
https://youtu.be/pE5JgjgOw7M

Good luck!

Color by Betty Edwards: A Course in Mastering the Art of Mixing Colors

This book can maybe help, it contains a nice "formula" for mixing and decoding color. I've read through several chapters, and as an amateur artist myself, found it interesting and memorable. Good luck with everything!

if you're interested in taking some time to read a book and maybe buying a few art supplies. "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" a book by Betty Edwards is pretty amazing for improving your drawing technique by leaps and bounds(from personal experiance). You can find it on Amazon.Link

These two are the main characters of Modern Life of Immortal Demons, my name is Fang LIU(Hiro), the author of Modern Life of Immortal Demons, and this book is available on Amazon now, hope you enjoy it :-D

The Natural Way to Draw has excellent exercises and is designed to mirror a rigorous drawing course. You can go your own speed and IMO it's really the best DIY for improving skills.

It's a great start! An underpainting is a really good way to bring out depth and variance in your colors and painting.

If you want a really good book on painting and color, check out this:

https://www.amazon.com/Color-Light-Realist-Painter-Gurney/dp/0740797719/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499313656&sr=8-1&keywords=color+and+light

Yeah, these are awesome as you can draw or paint in them (or collage etc...). I'd get her one along with some good watercolor pencils and maybe a nice brush and a bottle of india ink.

what you are doing is probably the best thing you can do. the second best thing would be to have a look at Bridgeman's Complete Guide to Drawing From Life and then keep drawing. You are right, hands are hard!

edit: I also just learned (by linking to the bridgeman book on amazon) that andrew loomis's books have FINALLY been reissued. Like bridgeman, his books are essential. I remember a few years ago his books were going for $100+. get them.

I use this uni ball set mostly but for these I pretty much used the 0.1mm pen, they're super cheap compared to the other stuff that's out there.

By yourself a set of acrylics (red, yellow, blue, black, brown, white). Mix up 8 big blobs of brownish or grayish colors as follows:

One Warm Light (yellowish or orangish or reddish)
One Cool Light (blueish or greenish or purplish)
One Warm Medium
One Cool Medium
One Warm Dark
One Cool Dark
White
Black

Then make a painting using only those 8 colors (and only mixes from those 8 colors you made). Force yourself to use all of the paint and cover every inch of the canvas/board/paper.

When you finish your painting by a copy of Robert Henri's "The Art Spirit"

http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Spirit-Robert-Henri/dp/0465002633

Yeah love his art, espeically Tales From The Loop, where many of the works are of the countryside outside of Stockholm, namely Ekerö.

His splashes of sci-fi in these settings are hauntingly beautiful.

• Supplies: this is an easy, great quality set to start http://www.amazon.com/Winsor-Newton-Cotman-Colour-Sketchers/dp/B00004THXI/ .
  
  
• Just start! Get some paper and start sketching directly in watercolor to get the hang of the medium; while producing small work, the more you produce the better you'll get at it.

I have two types of pens that I use. The first is the Pilot V5 which is a gel ball point pen http://www.amazon.com/Pilot-Precise-Stick-Rolling-Extra/dp/B00006IEBI

The second type is Sakura Micron pens which an assorted set can be found here http://www.amazon.com/Sakura-30062-6-Piece-Pigma-Micron/dp/B0008G8G8Y/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370448156&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=macron+pen

Hope this helps and good luck!

I would like to suggest a book for her. It explains the concept of using the physical act of drawing to see. Its an excellent book, and the book my college professor teaches directly from. It will literally teach her how to draw like the Greats, and teach her a college level course ;D

http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Way-Draw-Working-Study/dp/0395530075

Drawing From the Right Side of the Brain is a classic with some great exercises. Have fun!

http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Right-Side-Brain-Definitive/dp/1585429201

I haven't picked it up yet, and I know he's got more than one, but you'd probably love his art books!

This guy is a brilliant painter. One of my favorite painting books is written by him:
light and color

That's a big question! I've been painting for 30 years and was an art teacher for 17. I think the secret ingredient to what I do is TIME--literally decades of practice--and a heaping dose of patience. I've recently started a channel on YouTube where I attempt to show people my techniques, if you're interested: http://www.youtube.com/user/pupedd As far as books go, I don't have much to recommend for watercolor, but I received this one recently and it blew my mind as far as color and light are concerned. Wish I would have had this as a student! http://www.amazon.com/Color-Light-Guide-Realist-Painter/dp/0740797719

I have a degree in graphic design so it wasn't a huge career change for me. There's lots of overlap in terms of software/skills for both design and illustration.

As for tips, I would recommend learning about light and color. Even if you're doing pen drawings, knowing how to look at an object is just as important as anything else. [This was a fantastic book by James Gurney I always recommend.] (https://www.amazon.com/Color-Light-Realist-Painter-Gurney/dp/0740797719)

I bought these. I never had a set of ink pens before that varied in size like these with quality ink.

They're a joy to draw with.

Admittedly both artistically trained and not a parent, so I don't know if this is too out of left field. Though were I to have kids, and find out they have a thing for narrative art. I'd get this book and this book off the shelf and show it to them. I wish I had these books when I was just learning how to draw.

Don't force them to do any of the lessons out of it or anything. Just keep it as a reference book for them, if they choose to want to go beyond stick figures. These two books have pretty much all the information required to render objects and people correctly, and apply that towards the conventions of comics and narrative story telling.

As an aside though, drawing in particular is a trained skill. You could learn alongside your kid if you had the time/energy.

I recall now where I heard that technique first described, have you ever read "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way"? It goes through a lot of examples like head-to-body ratio, camera angle, perspective lines, etc. but also includes how the figures are posed. Straight-on like this is boring, but put the "camera" so the figures are in perspective, and it's a lot more cinematic.

I bought his book https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Loop-Simon-St%C3%A5lenhag/dp/1624650392 and its more of a diary of growing up in the islands of Stockholm, during the swedish experiment called the ring installation is taking place, and he's explaining what's in every picture of the book and what he sees etc. Great scifi in the 70/80 , I also bought a print of http://i.imgur.com/MFzUwwB.jpg since it's from the town I'm living in

He's released some hardcover books of his work: 'Tales from the Loop', 'Things from the Flood'

He's also working on his Third, which looks like it might be my favorite

Microns like this in a moleskin notebook. Moleskins are expensive but I think it's a nice investment.

You can most definitely train those things. Drawing a lot (a lot) helps. Talent is a significant factor in art, sadly, but it doesn't mean you can't learn how to draw well. You just won't be Salvador Dali at age 5, well, neither was he. Some artists were early prodigies, some weren't.

But, seriously, muscle control and visual thinking are trainable. The whole problem with this "talent" stuff is people start thinking it isn't just because they weren't born with it.

Look at http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Right-Side-Brain-Definitive/dp/1585429201

Be forewarned that snobs will likely poop on you for posting a video game character.

I like your shading, but the structure's still a bit wonky. A bit of uncertainty in lines and angles of the face, less pronounced in the clothes because the shading is better and they flow naturally. I think maybe you should find one of those old "how to draw comics" books and start working on the basic figures and stick drawings. Making all your characters X heads tall and stuff like that. Here's the book I had when I was a kid that has all that stuff.

These are a really good alternative: http://amzn.com/B0008G8G8Y

I used those for a long time, only switched to the expensive ones because you can replace the tips and ink

blog answer:

http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Right-Side-Brain-Definitive/dp/1585429201

my favorite pen: homemade quill

These are just about my favorite art books.

The Art Spirit by Robert Henri

What Painting Is by James Elkins

A Giacometti Portrait by James Lord

The natural way to draw, Kimon Nicolaides

Has schedules and everything, your very own art course in a book!

"Artists can color the sky red because they know it's blue. Those of us who aren't artists must color things the way they really are or people might think we're stupid" - Jules Feiffer

I think I am understanding your question wrong. What do you mean by "systematic categorization knowledge-base"?

Not sure if this could help but this is a great book on color and light. From the artist behind Dinotopia. And his blog is filled with some amazing information and art links too.

http://www.amazon.com/Color-Light-Guide-Realist-Painter/dp/0740797719/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Every artist should spend a little time on his blog.

http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/

Looks like Sakura Microns or Copic Multiliners. The markers are Copic Sketch.

If you like this, check out Stålenhag's books: Tales from the Loop, Things from the Flood, and The Electric State

http://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-Comics-Marvel-Way/dp/0671530771/ref=sr_1_84?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373004264&sr=1-84&keywords=anatomy+for+the+artist

http://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Stephen-published-University-Textbook/dp/B008TC2H5M/ref=sr_1_240?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373004756&sr=1-240&keywords=anatomy+for+the+artist

Have you read Betty Edwards' Drawing on the right side of the brain? I personally went through a similar before and after transformation as these student pictures show.

www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0008G8G8Y/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497855977&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=micron+pens

Here you go this is an incredible book.

Try the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Try the exercises suggested there.

According to the description of his art book Tales from the Loop, the interdimensional convergence was a trippy side effect of a particle collider experiment.

Found the english names for the books.
Tales from the Loop
Things from the Flood

http://www.amazon.com/Sakura-30062-6-Piece-Pigma-Micron/dp/B0008G8G8Y/ref=zg_bs_12896761_2

I'm thinking of getting Sakura pens for my friend, but I'm worried she already has them. Do they need to be replaced often?