NDA Art Critique Message Boards

Hey guys. I've been trying to draw realistic human faces, but the lips and nose and all the details are pretty annoying. I'm guessing, that for art college, you have to know how to draw realism, and my naive self insisted on drawing just anime when I first started out, and thanks to that, I have just two years to get realistic humans nailed. So yeah...I have little experience with self portraits and the like. But somehow realistic animals are easier for me. o.o

I was just wondering, do any of you have some good advice with realistic humans? Thanks a ton. ^^

hello

I love doing realism pictures but im still learning... and im not very good at all lol... what i have found out though, is that if you study loads of phoos and draw them over and over, you eventually get used to the features... i sometimes just do whole pages of lips taken from magazing photos, or noses from the newspapers xD Its quite satisfying to do actually, and it gets you used to the shape and shading.

Also, tutorials are your best friends. Read them. All of them. They're all great and you can get loads of different tecniques then find the one that works for you.

Hope that helped?

Thank you! Yes, I was thinking at looking at some of my mom's magazines.

I'll do my best, and thanks again for the tips. ^^

I will take any advice I can get. n.n

Ah yes...the infectious disease that is anime...I suffer from it too...anime is just so fun to draw, but even now I can't quite nail the realism. You're probably going to hate this answer, but here its:

Practice
Practice all the time, while going about your daily buisness study the faces of people around you. Anime only uses a few basic face types, but in the real world there are hundereds of variations, study them and see how different faces are put together...

That's about all I can say..

Oh, and I love your avatar XD

Nah, it's alright. I was expecting it. XD

Yes, Koro-chan go! 83

Probably the best thing I have ever done to further my art and break the 'anime-esque' style was take a Drawing and Design class, where we were taught how to draw humans for about two weeks. Not a long time. But I had a teacher who near despises anime and manga style and draws with a style so unlike my own that I hate it. Yet, he taught me the importance of balance, composition, and how a human being really looks. He taught me how to measure properly. (six-seven heads tall, corners of mouth line up with center of eyes, top of ears line up with eyebrows, bottoms of ears line up with corner of mouth, that stuff) It was probably the best two weeks of half-arsed art I had ever done, but I walked away knowing something.

My advice: Take a drawing and design class, one that teaches how to draw realistic people. A class is often more comprehensive and involving than a written tutorial (Not that you shouldn't use those). It will teach you how to see. Really see. You'll start seeing the world in a completely different way. People will become more interesting to look at. Your art will start to change a little. (mine did) It may not be completely realistic, but it's a start. It takes ages to get right and you'll probably be very frustrated mid-way through, but you'll get it. Realism is a difficult thing because people know what people look like. Eventually you'll begin to see balance in your drawings. You'll know when something's off and when something looks exactly right. You'll often scrap most of your work repeatedly. One day, though, the work will pay off and you'll be happy with what you have. Photo reference is a wonderful gift, especially when drawing odd positions or strange angles. Use these things liberally.

Uh...I can think of a few more things that I won't add due to length. Any questions, just ask away.

I didn't mind the lengthyness at all, I liked all the advice. I wouldn't mind taking a class, but I don't know how to go to one, or where, because I'm graduating and only thing to do now is community college first. However, the community college art courses are more about web design and there only seems to be one course titled Drawing 1. :/

Take the course in drawing 1. They tend to teach fundamentals, but it's a useful class. They may teach realism.

Typically, type your city/town along with the keywords 'free, art, course, class'. See what you get. If not anything useful, take out 'free' then search again. You may come up with something.

Another thing you could do is find an artist you admire and ask them for help. If they have the extra time, they might help you out a little, especially if they have already taken college courses. They can probably give you a few tips and with some written tutorials, it should help.

Also, go to your local library or bookstore and find a book on human portrait drawing. These are very helpful. Grab the one you feel covers the most of what you're looking for.

My only tip is to use as many references as possible.
I think it is impossible for humans to make faces up.
Oh...and trace, a lot.
Oh...and do that thing where you stare at people's faces.

my advice is the same as a lot of the advice here. use references and a lot of them. practice. you can try tracing for a while (i never felt satisfied tracing myself, but it helps your hands memorize the motions), then graduate to copying without tracing, and eventually youll be able to go without copying.

even with anime faces you shouldve been getting the basics of faces down. the rules are basically similar, just the style changes. anime faces are just simplified. there are some good tutorials on the web, look for them.