Some Advice

I saw that last night, actually. Bookmarked it.

Oh, hey, one of those tutorials linked a pretty cool photo series of olympic athletes. Looks useful as a reference for different types of fitness.

I always swear by Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards.

You said you can't draw stuff well from real life? This book will teach you. It will. Try the exercises, follow them, and practice. You can probably find it in your local library, a pdf exists somewhere online if you're the pirate type, and it's not so expensive, either, so you have all of those options.

Also, you're not that bad, and aside from some odd proportions, you do draw decent action scenes. At least the sense of motion exists in there somewhere, which is not something that can be said for myself. The book I mentioned helps with perspective, too, so check it out.

edited 16th Jun '11 8:25:42 PM by Nika-senpai

If I can find it, I'll look into it.

I don't think your stuff is bad. It's not amazing, but it's all right.

if you want to improve, draw from life. A lot. I carried a sketchbook constantly for about three years*

You may also want to switch from manga to "realistic" style, just for practice. Once you can draw people realistically, both from life and from imagination, it's straightforward to simplify your style, but if you draw simplified art because it's easier, it'll always look like "stuff drawn the easiest way."

edited 18th Jun '11 7:52:03 PM by jewelleddragon

Well, I should say that you should approach structure over style first. It's not bad to try to draw things from books or the 'net as they are. Also, keeping a sketchbook is an excellent idea. I manned up and got one almost two years ago and that's how I was able to track my improvement.

From what I saw on your deviantart (the webcomic links aren't working for me) you draw very stiff. What I say is wring out your hand, take a deep breath, and exaggerate EVERYTHING. Make lines with carefree abandon. Here I'd draw from a more American way of stylizing things. You don't have to draw like that forever but it's just a way to really loosen up your drawings and give them a bit more life. Once you're done with that, remember the structure of things, that'll help enormously with proportion. Structure tutorial of sorts. I also second the sketchbook. Draw in it every day and need it like Linus needs his blanket. Stretch your boundaries all the time. If there's something you REALLY HATE drawing, practice it like mad.