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DamaiMikaz — [Tutorial] Beginners mistakes, and how to fix them by-nc-nd

Published: 2014-03-01 20:18:22 +0000 UTC; Views: 63427; Favourites: 3798; Downloads: 613
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Description I came up with the idea for this tutorial a while ago, when I was giving drawing workshops on another convention.

I noticed that a lot of beginning artists that I met actually made the same type of mistakes. 


The mistakes listed here are the ones that I used to make as well, when I was younger.

Things that took me quite the time to learn, because these are the things people often don't tell you.

I can still remember having an Eureka moment when I discovered these simple things. I hope you will have the same.


(PS: this tutorial is aimed towards beginners in art. If you're advanced, you might know this already)




Just to rule out a few things:

This tutorial is based on the workshops I've given at conventions over the last 2 years. It's a quick how-to (will fit in an 1 hour workshop), rather than an effort to explain EVERYTHING.

 Most of those workshops were given at conventions, to kids. The average target group is amateur artists between 8 and 20 years old.

 I realize that some mistakes are manga-style-issues. Yet I think it doesn't hurt to know how things should be done.

 To the bunch of angry (aspiring) pro-artists that got to me: It's NOT aimed towards professional artists (or aspiring pro's). It's aimed towards amateur artists (mostly kids) that need motivation, rather than someone telling them "this is how it should be done. Copy it". I know it works this way in art school. It doesn't work that way in elementary school, and that's for a reason. It's is a teaching-thing. 

 I used my own art in this tutorial, not because I do EVERYTHING right. But because I wanted to show much difference small things can make.

 The book mentioned about color theory is "Color & light" by James Gurney. It's a long read, but interesting, though.

 Many people told me the model was Keira Knightly. I know now. I just got her by googling 'random model picture', though XD

I know there are mistakes. I'm not a native English person, and I usually teach in Dutch.

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Comments: 583

CaptainSpaceFucker In reply to ??? [2014-03-02 02:40:52 +0000 UTC]

This is excellent advice! "Like a teacher who would never cite his own work." Your own work shouldn't be used in a tutorial UNLESS you're teaching how to do something "your way," or to demonstrate how you failed at something because it's a relevant example. That's my opinion.

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Diretooth In reply to ??? [2014-03-02 00:47:11 +0000 UTC]

Often, this artist shows their own artwork (and older artwork) to show that anyone can be as good as they are with enough practice. It's one of the reasons why they're one of my absolute favorite artists.

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RaylaOpal In reply to ??? [2014-03-02 00:05:44 +0000 UTC]

... That ironing... O_O
This is a really, no, EXTREMELY good reminder for me... I can't shade (or colour, in the matter) for crap! And this tutorial actually made me laugh about three times. It was very informative and amusing! Oh yeah~! >_<

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Ronerk In reply to ??? [2014-03-02 00:05:33 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for this tutorial! it will help me a lot

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Loveless-Yokai In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 23:58:26 +0000 UTC]

Wow I feel slightly alarmed how many of these mistakes I do but now that you've pointed them out I will try to not do them *looks determined* Thank you sensei 

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DamaiMikaz In reply to Loveless-Yokai [2014-03-02 07:43:39 +0000 UTC]

Everybody does them at the beginning. So don't worry about it ^^

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DaddyHoggy In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 23:48:13 +0000 UTC]

I don't draw (but love comics and anime) and I thought this was an excellent, well thought out and useful tutorial.

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Gaioumon In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 23:34:36 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for all the tips that you gave! I'll definitely keep them in mind.

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Zwei-tan In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 23:27:45 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much for that Tutorial. 

It is good to see what kind of things to do and not to do. 

It makes me feel like a small beginner again and that in a good way ^w^


And I thought I was a tad advanced but nha. So this is really great and helpful!

Thank you very much.

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SpiderLondon In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 23:27:14 +0000 UTC]

Besides the misspells, tons of 'em...


This was very educational

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DamaiMikaz In reply to SpiderLondon [2014-03-02 07:43:10 +0000 UTC]

I'm sorry. I'm still not a native English person ^^

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SpiderLondon In reply to DamaiMikaz [2014-03-02 13:21:15 +0000 UTC]

I figured :3 tis fine 

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thetimidone In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 23:20:02 +0000 UTC]

thanks for the tips!

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kirinasan In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 23:19:13 +0000 UTC]

My characters' moms must have INCREDIBLE ironing skills, lol! I really hope this helps me fix my mistakes! T_T

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DamaiMikaz In reply to kirinasan [2014-03-02 07:42:50 +0000 UTC]

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Child-of-Sleep In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 23:17:20 +0000 UTC]

I love this.

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SmexyTheOffenderMan In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 22:58:27 +0000 UTC]

Ah. This is an excellent tutorial~

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Asaber-Eleanen In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 22:51:08 +0000 UTC]

Awesome, and thanks!

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Black-Chimaera In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 22:50:57 +0000 UTC]

Awesome ironing mom got me! She used to iron the clothes of all of my characters!

I feel that if I can have even the tiniest Eureka moment with every drawing I make, then it's good. I draw a lot less that I used to, but now I draw to understand things. You can push so much info onto somebody, but if they don't have that Eureka moment (I like that expression) of understanding HOW and WHY, they will only repeat something they've been told. Everybody has the skills to learn anything, it's just that some people get the Eureka moment faster than others.

I took an animation class, and there was no admission portfolio, so one guy ended in the class with only the ability to draw stick figures. He took the anatomy and model drawings classes and as we all expected, he didn't get great results. Then he just UNDERSTOOD everything he has studied, and he improved so much in a few weeks that it seemed impossible. It was just amazing to see.

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DamaiMikaz In reply to Black-Chimaera [2014-03-02 07:59:34 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, a lot of art comes down to understanding things

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MarmoraKeef In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 22:46:18 +0000 UTC]

The anime style has certain things that go along with it. The "lack of cheek" and "side nose" are not mistakes- they are stylistic factors. A mistake would be drawing the eyes up way too far on the head.

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DamaiMikaz In reply to MarmoraKeef [2014-03-02 07:42:24 +0000 UTC]

Well, this comes from the workshops.

You don't know how many people got to me and told me "the face I just drew looks weird, and I don't know why" because they didn't understand the mistake that was in the style.

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Maggie-X-Awesomeness In reply to MarmoraKeef [2014-03-02 01:18:49 +0000 UTC]

yea this tutorial is stupid

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Varmine In reply to MarmoraKeef [2014-03-01 23:04:32 +0000 UTC]

I was thinking the same thing,it only becomes bad when someone does it as a shortcut or because they like anime ,but have no knowledge of anatomy and can't pull it off nive

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Varmine In reply to Varmine [2014-03-01 23:05:04 +0000 UTC]

Nicely *

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BUTT3RFLY43V3R [2014-03-01 22:35:20 +0000 UTC]

Omigosh This Is Great. Awesome Job!! n.n

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ashes2steel In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 22:30:23 +0000 UTC]

There were a lot of things that I had to learn myself, through constant drawing and eventual epiphany. Pretty succinct if you ask me, good job.

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NinjaCacti In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 22:25:58 +0000 UTC]

You have no Idea, How much this has helped me. I like my art but it never looks natural enough. This helps me find a lot of my mistakes. Thanks!

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Senwe45 In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 22:24:21 +0000 UTC]

Saving for later reference because I tend to forget half of this >.>

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izka-197 In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 22:06:05 +0000 UTC]

that's pretty amazing dear thank you for sharing these tips, I'm sure it will help a lot of people

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DamaiMikaz In reply to izka-197 [2014-03-02 07:40:59 +0000 UTC]

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Phoenix-Horizons In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 22:03:50 +0000 UTC]

Meh i'm getting used to all the creases in clothing i knew what they were there for; i just didn't know where to put them

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DamaiMikaz In reply to Phoenix-Horizons [2014-03-02 07:40:52 +0000 UTC]

Look at your own clothing for examples

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Phoenix-Horizons In reply to DamaiMikaz [2014-03-02 08:26:04 +0000 UTC]

yeah true XD

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Atrocitys In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 22:03:34 +0000 UTC]

After reading this I'm going to go check the errors on my work to see if I made any of them. XD Practice makes perfect after all. Thank you for this Damai!!!

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Sammavanklaarbergen In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 21:59:54 +0000 UTC]

Good tips! Some are even good refreshers for advanced drawers I would say

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8lifflefoot In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 21:57:52 +0000 UTC]

This is extremely helpful! Thank you!

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Devil-of-the-Moon In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 21:50:51 +0000 UTC]

this is extremely helpful. thank you very much!

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RainbowBunnehs In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 21:47:31 +0000 UTC]

Amazing tutorial, I've never realised that I've been making to many mistakes XD

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OPStrawhat In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 21:44:05 +0000 UTC]

Thank you, this help heaps!

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Ryokuzo In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 21:35:17 +0000 UTC]

Huh cool I'm not exactly a beginner but I find this very helpful for when I draw people as well as remembering wrinkles in clothing this is cool

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er49563 In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 21:24:31 +0000 UTC]

I actually like this tutorial, but I must say, even as a "beginner" I could really infer these things without reading a book about them, or even studying..  I guess I just feel like art isn't about that, no matter how you look at it.  Because we are constantly observing the world around us; and instead of looking to what someone else has to say about it, you have to find the knowledge for how things work, and how you would like to stylize that, within yourself.  ...



or you could just be like everyone else and read this tutorial.  xD

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JustKoshiro In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 21:22:13 +0000 UTC]

Very well written and a helpful tutorial for beginner artists. Well done 

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Zumoarikuta In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 21:21:59 +0000 UTC]

Well this helps and it made me laugh a lot.

All my characters seem to have awesome Ironing moms. XD

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NothingThanks In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 21:16:30 +0000 UTC]

Finally a good tutorial around the basics. most of the tutorials i find don't have a lot of this info. AWESOME JOB!

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XxMaz-AlmightyxX In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 21:09:59 +0000 UTC]

Random model picture? That's Keira Knightley! Haha I love this, the side nose always bugs me in drawing so it's nice to know someone else sees it!

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DamaiMikaz In reply to XxMaz-AlmightyxX [2014-03-01 21:19:38 +0000 UTC]

I searched for 'random model picture' and got that XD

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Redumbreon14 In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 21:09:30 +0000 UTC]

This helped.

alot

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KenLit In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 20:55:10 +0000 UTC]

Very good tutorial.
Personally I found shades and  the creases highly important. But also the shaping and the lighting are precise and very usefull.

I like the charm of your examples.
Great,great

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KlarKasten In reply to ??? [2014-03-01 20:53:43 +0000 UTC]

This is awesome. It will definitely help those beginners out there struggling with colouring and clothing!


Loved the 'why her boobs won't drop any shadow' part XD

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