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Ichigo pencil 1

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Hello everyone, this is my first drawing since I began drawing (21 years old)

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There's something to be said about how anime typically handles proportions. Just look at Hellsing Ultimate; running on the presumption that if you become an ancient vampire, your limbs will continue to grow and the next thing you know you're the lankier than a giraffe with huge branches for forearms and you're 9 feet tall.

The fact that we have a human skull for reference with this character really drives home just how disproportionate this guy is. And while the wardrobe choice isn't a fault of your own, (you're paying homage to an anime character), its structured in such a baggy way that it conceals the rest of his anatomy, so we don't fully understand where his legs begin. Because his feet are cut off at the bottom, we don't know where they end either, but that's not that big of a deal.

What really emphasizes this disproportion is that arm. I have a mirror in my room, and because of this picture, I've been comparing my forearm's size in relation to my head. Maybe I have a huge head, and maybe my forearm doesn't belong to a character that's extremely tall, but I could say that roughly my elbow aligns with my chin and my forearms aligns with the top of my head.

This guy could decapitate four clones of himself, align each of their heads neck-to-scalp, and his entire arm would be the length of all four of those heads. Moreover, there's a crooked bend to the sleeve that almost wants to imply he has an extra elbow. The tricep trails down from the shoulder, it bends at the first elbow, we get down to the belt (right about where the wrist should be) and it crooks out again to finally deposit the wrist down below.

This problem could've been avoided by roughing out the composition of the character using the shape method. Its like lightly tracing a mannequin to ensure the proportions of the limbs look correct. On paper, you can lightly erase the unused lines and draw atop the useful lines. In Photoshop, this could be a layer beneath the ink, where the opacity can be lightened, and then altogether deleted once you have the character how you want it.

If he is a naturally tall character, then his head would need to be bigger. This would help out in a lot of ways, especially since there's been a lot of time and shading dedicated to the kimono; his head/face is comparatively cleaner, absent of shading and detailing, even in the hair.

While probably restricted to the size of the paper you started this on, the tatters of the cape/cloak going the way it is would mean it would be angled weirdly if it was just resting, without wind blowing it into a cascade. At first I thought you forgot to continue the belt established on the front into the back, and then I realized the cloak is sweeping around and behind him. While there are a few divots and creases around the small of his back to better establish this, it could've been more pronounced. Especially with shading on the interior of the cape closest to the character's body. Depth, dimension, shading and color is your ally to better carry these concepts across to a viewer.

The hand looks sufficient, it could be stronger. The blade of the sword lets us know it is, in fact, a sword, but it too can be made too look stronger; shading that implies wear of its metal, if its sharp and sleek or rustic and old, if its seen battle, if its supposed to be shining brilliantly with chrome or if its a muted silver. The chain, I'm not sure why its there because its not really attached to anything but the pommel, and the way that the chain is drawn implies its thin and fragile. There's no density to it, and even if their were, its function remains unclear.

Once again, keep challenging yourself! Step outside of that comfort zone and try new things. Only then will you grow as an artist!

Credits & Info

Artist
Views
364
Score
Waiting for 4 more votes

Uploaded
May 11, 2015
10:20 AM EDT
Category
Illustration

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