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[Askot Bokbondeler]

i think it is a terrible idea to get into drawing with an objective already in mind, you should find your own way along the way. there's no glory in mimicking the aesthetic creations of another, you should derive your own style from your own interpretation of real life, and the best way to do it is to know real life really well.
think of it as learning to play guitar just to play metallica's songs versus learning proper music and writing your own songs

[Patchouli]

I dunno, there's nothing wrong with looking up to someone as inspiration.

Just don't let it get to you, and be sure to expand your horizons and look at new things, or else you'll end up in that terrible rut where you can ONLY do that one thing, and maybe not even be very good at it, because you just don't have the knowledge or experience to stylize effectively.

[Askot Bokbondeler]

I dunno, there's nothing wrong with looking up to someone as inspiration.

i think it's actually quite a dangerous thing to do when you're giving your first steps

[strongrudder]

I disagree, as that's how many people get into art in the first place. And frankly, it's futile. We're surrounded by media in today's society, so it's impossible not to be influenced by others. You just have to take steps to keep that level of influence healthy.

The trick is to make sure you 1) draw plenty from life, and 2) draw inspiration from a wide variety of outside sources when you study them. That way it's harder to get stuck in one style, while learning from them all.

[Patchouli]

I had to Google a bit to remember what it was, but: Imitate, Assimilate, Innovate.

Style comes along with practice, influences, and strengths. I think it's natural for many people to say, "I want to draw like *" at first, but as they develop and draw more and more, their own natural style comes out. They might start off saying, "Hey, I want to draw like *", then when they become more aware of specific techniques and such, they might see some linework, and say, "Wow, I love how he shades with his pencil here", then look at another piece, and say "I love how she uses color here." 

All of it as well as your own personal flavor adds up to your own unique style in the end. Style evolves. It's not dangerous to look up to an artist as inspiration, as long as at some point, other influences and our own personal ideas come into the picture. Use the same building blocks as the greats, but end up with a completely different building in the end.

[blackmagechill]

i think it is a terrible idea to get into drawing with an objective already in mind, you should find your own way along the way. there's no glory in mimicking the aesthetic creations of another, you should derive your own style from your own interpretation of real life, and the best way to do it is to know real life really well.
think of it as learning to play guitar just to play metallica's songs versus learning proper music and writing your own songs

The guitar analogy is actually a pretty bad one because I know someone who learned the basic chords and a few simple songs from a music teacher, and then started getting sheet music of some stuff (Iron Man was one of them and something else) and doing that and it worked out a lot faster then it would've normally (i.e. a month of progress in half the time)

[Askot Bokbondeler]

carefull, the strategies that work faster usually are not the ones that work best. it's the choice between having a solid academical education or having a superficial knowledge of a subject, from one you can derive your own informed vanguard while the other often leads to disguising your naive mistakes as stylization and adventurousness. of course, what works, works, it's just that one often works better than the other

learning to draw, when done right, is something that will never satisfy you, it's a subject where learning basically consists in discovering that you suck even more than you thought, and the more you improve, the further away perfection seems to become

[Soadreqm]

Hey, so I'm wondering something here: Is it easier to get into drawing stuff that is sort of reminiscent of  HomeStuck (i.e. cartoonish stuff) after you get done drawing realistically...

Short answer: yes.

It's possible to learn a relatively simple and cartoonish style by rote, without having a clue about how things like anatomy and perspective are supposed to work. Most people who do that pick anime as their style of choice, but I don't see why you couldn't mimic Homestuck in a similar manner. It's not necessarily a good idea, though. In the end, you'll be able to draw one thing and one thing only, and even that will look kind of terrible. Conversely, if you develop yourself a solid idea of what things look like in the real world and how to accurately draw them, stylising them simpler should be easy.

Don't sweat it, though. Any practice is better than no practice at all. The worst-case scenario is that you'll be wasting your time, and if you've ever seen a video game, there should be nothing especially new or horrible about the experience.

Actually, if your lifelong dream is to do an MSPAFA, I suggest you should just start one right now with stick figures or something.

[Errol]

I started with Anime. I can't help it, it still shows, and I suck at making detailed, recognizable portraits. Hard.
However, I've been trying hard to understand anatomy as well, and it shows. I am constantly improving.
Perfection is unachievable, but still we strive for it. Because we can/must.

[blackmagechill]

Actually, if your lifelong dream is to do an MSPAFA, I suggest you should just start one right now with stick figures or something.

I got an idea for one about a week ago, and I thought it'd be pretty funny (a parody of  RPGs and dating sims), and I figured I'd have to be a lot better at drawing then I am, because I can't really draw anything to well. I'm going to be posting a couple pictures today, and I did them in photoshop Elements (I take back every nasty thing I ever said about it, it rules compared to everything I've been using). They would've been done yesterday, but I start at 12:30~ so by about 1:30~ it was sort a too hot to be in my room. (AC is mildy broken, the CAU stopped working but we have a box unit so its okay...mostly)

[Errol]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I could really use some harsh criticism on the anatomy, here. And probably the shading, too, it's fairly sloppy. (That the one leg is partly invisible, I already know. Neck's very long as well, but it would be quite a hassle to fix. Needed, probably )
Also, what to put in the background? I thought of some ridiculously fancy staircase, the kind with red plush steps and golden railings, the kind you'd encounter in the villa of someone who has way too much money and likes to show off. The character pretty much is intended to give off an air of confidence, "welcome to my home/your doom" sort of style.
So, where did I fail?

[lordnincompoop]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I could really use some harsh criticism on the anatomy, here. And probably the shading, too, it's fairly sloppy. (That the one leg is partly invisible, I already know. Neck's very long as well, but it would be quite a hassle to fix. Needed, probably )
Also, what to put in the background? I thought of some ridiculously fancy staircase, the kind with red plush steps and golden railings, the kind you'd encounter in the villa of someone who has way too much money and likes to show off. The character pretty much is intended to give off an air of confidence, "welcome to my home/your doom" sort of style.
So, where did I fail?

Five noticeable points:

• I can't really tell what gender it is. The rather alien face might be part of the reason.
• If it's a female, you'll likely want to widen the hips a little.
• It has no chin; just a line to delineate some illusory point where it splits.
• Pick a consistent perspective to work from and foreshorten accordingly; your figure's various components don't quite agree with each other.

[Errol]

Urge... to... nitpick... rising...

That's four points.

[lordnincompoop]

Urge... to... nitpick... rising...

That's four points.

It is five because I say so.

[Errol]

...ok.

As for your issues with perspective, I assume you were talking about her right arm and the legs?