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No, it's cool.

Fantasy works and comics - GREAT. That's different.

I thought you were talking about drawing in general.

OK, I hear you now. In this situation there are in fact books out there that show you step by step how to draw the human figure specifically for comics. Here's probably one of the best.

But don't forget the importance of being able to draw anything. A book like this is great, but it can also be misleading, which is why I suggested ignoring books in the first place. A book like this can lead you to think there's one way you draw people, another way you draw cars, another way you draw buildings -- and in reality it's all about composition, observation, discipline, etc, the same set of skills for all. People who can only draw one kind of thing are of almost no value in any such field, really.

Which is why it's important that you keep drawing ordinary things too. Still life - definitely but start thinking about your goals and advance from still life with fruit basket to still life with egg beater to still life with Storm Trooper action figure and lawn mower engine -- catch my drift? Drawing technological objects, so that you will be able to draw the super hero and invent a really cool star ship for him to drive.

And really draw still life things precisely. Challenge yourself and don't be easily satisfied. This kind of drawing is very athletic, you will find yourself straining your hands and arms to do this right. It's not a field for snowflakes. Be very self-critical. Look at your work like you're a comic book editor who just saw it for the first time and is really critical and picky. You'll get it, trust me, just give yourself time and patience and stay at it.

There's likely a community college somewhere in your area and you can probably pick up a basic drawing class there that can fast-track you on some of these skills at a pretty low cost.

And never ever stop looking at the kind of art you want to make. Challenge yourself to work up to its standards. Freely copy the best as practice. Artists have done this since time immemorial. Try to figure out what makes some comic panels better than others. Get it into your head, you know? Think it through. When you see a crappy one, think out loud how you'd have done that panel a lot better, and then go ahead and draw it better.

I'm glad I understand now. That's a fun field but it's packed, the competition is fierce, so if you really want this, make it your mission and your passion and just do this and be a geek about it. Many of the best artists are loners throughout their early careers - think about it. Draw every day, every chance you get. Draw til your hand hurts, shake it out, then keep drawing. When you can't draw, think about drawing. When your hands are busy doing something else, look around and think about how you'd draw things around you.

Best of luck to you.

I'm glad to hear that, though it's a shame to hear he's that sensitive about it. That's another reason I'd recommend against the gallery system (which I'm not a part of myself); many of my peers are and to be honest it's a very...unkind system.

I don't consider myself a sensitive artist but I deal with them on a regular basis so i understand your plight all too well. I might have an idea for how to help that. I recently bought this book, it's by James Gurney the author of the blog I linked to in the sub-comment of this. It could be an excellent christmas gift and at only $16 it won't break the bank. It's probably the single greatest book I've encountered about painting. It's succinct and well written and relies mostly on examples rather than big blocks of text. And if you decided to give it to him you could play it off pretty naieve like, "I know you like painting, here's a cool book about painting!" and probably not hurt his feelings.

Just an idea, might be a good way to circumvent the "sensitive artist" but still give him a good resource to improve.

In any case I salute your effort! Tell him to keep at it :D

Well, as a freshman in art school who has also had a few years in the real world I can offer some perspective. (BTW, my real world experence consists of street portraiture, landscapes and portraits by commission for about two years before going to school)..

You were probably the best painter/drawer in your school, but now you go to school with a bunch of others like you. Most everyone else is talented and if they don't appear talented it is likely they will blow you away in something like photography, or collage, or some other media with which you've never had much practice. So the field has been leveled and the only real difference between good and bad work is the amount of time you spend on it. There will be students who blow you away every week, and they spend more time on it than anyone else. There are students who suck on projects every week, and they spend very little time on their work.

Now, it is easy to tell who will be able to get work after graduating. Those that keep up their pace and keep working harder and getting better, they might have a fighting chance. A lot, and I mean a lot of people seem to plateau. Even more important than talent or skill is networking. I don't mean building a network of buddies, but talking to teachers, getting internships, doing freelance work, winning awards in your field, getting into exhibits, having a website, keeping contact with people you meet. Your network is a huge part of how you will achieve after you graduate, so try and get an internship as soon as possible.

For whatever reason, many of the students smoke waaaay too much pot and party waaaay too much. They place a lot of importance on their friends and having a boyfriend or girlfriend. Its a lot like any other school in that way.


As far as things you can do before going to school. If I were you I'd get some of the basic writing or english courses done at a local community college over the summer. That stuff takes up too much time and can really fuck up your art if you have to spend a lot of time thinking about paper writing. And if you are going to be in animation I suggest you read Animators Survival Kit because it is a good read. It has helped with my illustrations.

Even if you are going into animation. Your freshman year will likely consist of a lot of drawing in charcoal or pencil or whatnot

tldr; the playing field has leveled, because now you are among others just as good as you. time to build a network and start losing sleep. read Animators Survival Kit.

The best thing you can do is get a few books/e-books or like Kissnellie suggests online guides.

I suggest Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing from Life , I also like Anatomy: A Complete Guide for Artists by Sheppard.

Basically just draw all of the images over and over again, they are like maps to the human body. Sure they won't be exact for every person - but getting an idea of how it looks will help you shape it better. Drawing figures (and anything) is about understanding it and yadda yadda.

Draw from life, gesture often from pixelovely, and Posemaniacs

If you practice for a while, you'll get a good understanding of the human figure pretty well :D

I might have some anatomy e-books if you're interested - drop me a message. I am currently taking a life drawing class, so it's all good fun if I can help others =3

There are a number of color theory books out there but I'm not sure that will answer all of your questions. I have a copy of The Elements of Color that I reference often. The thing is, there isn't really one solid formula for mixing paint. It mostly comes through practice and understanding the physics of color and how colors shift in tone, saturation, and hue. There is some really good advice in this post already. I have a few other sources you might be interested in.

Wet Canvas has some great forums for people like us who need help with this kind of stuff from time to time.

The Dimensions of Color has a very thorough breakdown of color. It is extensive and a harder read than maybe you are used to. Take it slow. Read it a few times. Refer to it often.

Color and Light by James Gurney is a great resource as well. Be warned, that it isn't necessarily a "how-to" but it will give you insight into how a professional artist goes about his work. He provides insight on techniques and palettes and things like that as well as phenomena seen in nature.

Take a look at those. Best of luck.

I am by no means an expert artist so take this with a grain of salt but i can give you my advice:

it sounds obvious (and to be honest, pretty disappointing) but you just need to draw as much as possible, set aside an hour a day to just draw.

A good place is to start is to draw still-lifes with basic shapes at varying distances: something like this. this will let you start to develop an eye for lighting and how shapes and shadows interact. Search up how to properly shade if you're unsure.

while you're drawing these, start studying 1 and 2 point perspective: this slide makes it simple to understand and is pretty comprehensive. perspective is an essential tool which you'll need to understand.

keep drawing these basic shapes everyday, then start upgrading into more abstract shapes, things like wine glasses other shapes.
Maybe you can read Drawing on the right side of the brain?
It's probably one of the most highly regarded guide to drawing which really helped me to understand certain processes and logic behind drawing.

SIDE NOTE: Drawing from your brain memory/imagination is an incredibly difficult thing to do and not every artist is great at it. Use references and stills from life or books or the internet to develop your skill.

One of the greatest difficulties you will face is drawing what is there rather than what you think you see.

PM me if you ever need help with something.

I wouldn't critique this if I didn't like this-- so, disclaimer. I also realize it is a doodle, but you posted it on the internet, so I'm assuming you would like feedback.

A little more fluidity and variance in line weight would be nice. Your anatomy needs some work-- even if this is supposed to be stylized. The jaw is very square, more characteristic of a male face, and the eyes and pupils are not pointed the same directions (A good way to help with this is to look at the drawing in a mirror, ocular dominance can be a bitch). The mouth and the nose are too high up on the face and could be pulled down a little further. I don't think the lines for the clavicles were necessary-- they pull my eye away from the face. You did a really nice job shading most of the nose, but the rest of the face lacks structure and I'm not really sure where your light sources are going, especially with the reflections on the eyes. Maybe emphasize those a little more.

I did a really quick redline here to better illustrate my points.

Some good books to help with the fundamentals that are causing these issues:

• Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist by Stephen Rogers Peck
  
  
• Color and Light: A guide for the Realist Painter by James Gurney
  
  Keep up the good work!

In a hurry, but here's the Amazon links, plus one extra book I have that I enjoyed. You could also try to see if there are websites with tutorials, but alli have on hand are free artist middle sites. Still useful.


https://smile.amazon.com/Action-Cartooning-Ben-Caldwell/dp/0806987391/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523044934&sr=8-1&keywords=Ben+caldwell

https://smile.amazon.com/Fantasy-Cartooning-Ben-Caldwell/dp/1402716125/ref=pd_bxgy_14_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1402716125&pd_rd_r=E8D678XWKG9J60492XEX&pd_rd_w=aQYUw&pd_rd_wg=IndA3&psc=1&refRID=E8D678XWKG9J60492XEX

https://smile.amazon.com/Creating-Characters-Personality-Animation-Graphic/dp/0823023494/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0823023494&pd_rd_r=3Q39HZMCBFVSQ2SHZGEW&pd_rd_w=JXQC5&pd_rd_wg=bs3Cl&psc=1&refRID=3Q39HZMCBFVSQ2SHZGEW


Here's a model site that allows you to choose clothes or nude and even set up a gesture playlist. One thing you do in art school drawing class is try to capture fast poses in 15-sec to a minute poses--no detail, just a good loose impression of a figure that expresses the motion of the pose. It's good practice and a good way to loosen up before drawing.

https://www.quickposes.com/en/library

Okay, speaking as a disabled person, if you're going to be around this kid a fair bit you need to completely let go of this notion that his disabilities make him less capable of honing his talents. Not because you'll necessarily interfere with the development of his skills but because that attitude is incredibly toxic. He isn't talented despite being disabled, he is both talented and disabled. Happens all the time.

I would suggest buying him some books, like maybe this one Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing from Life https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1402766785/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_rS5AybXHBE8CN or How to Draw Cool Stuff: A Drawing Guide for Teachers and Students https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0615991424/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_ET5Ayb7CCF5ZN - find something that matches what he likes to draw or would like to draw. Make sure he has decent materials - they don't have to be top of the line, just decent. Take him with you to get the materials, let him start learning what's out there and figuring out what he wants to try working with next. Let him interact with the shop assistants as much as possible. Let this be his thing, and he will hopefully gradually expand his own horizons.

Thank you! Here's a quick list of the ones I can recall. :)

Figure drawing - Michael Hampton

alla prima - Richard Schmid

figure drawing for all it's worth - Andrew Loomis

drawing from life - George Bridgman

Color and light - James Gurney

As for videos, a whole lot of youtube ones, specifically from these channels;

Bugmeyer

Feng Zhu

Stylusmonkey

and a few workshop videos by Whit Brachna, Brad Rigney and Donato Giancola.

hope it helps some. thanks for the interest! :)

You go to places like Ringling to get good, you don't start out good when you arrive! Your work is better than mine when I applied. I've never taken an art class before being accepted either! Hell, your digital painting is better than what I can do now. Apply. It costs ~$100 and the worst thing they can do is say no. And apply to other schools, RISD, Cal Arts, SCAD that specialize on art and animation. If you want to do purely animation you might want to check out http://www.animationmentor.com/ they have a really great program. If they all say no then you have Clemson to fall back on.

The only reason I'd advise against a place like Clemson for animation is 90% of people in the industry seem to be from a private art school. You just don't see people from universities and community colleges. And there may be some out there, maybe more than I realize, however the numbers favor private art schools. All the recruiters that come to Ringling; Pixar, Dreamworks, Activision, EA, etc all say Ringling students make the best employees and that our students who get "C's" are better than the "A" students at state schools and community colleges. And the reality of it is, all the "A" and "B" students of Ringling are having trouble finding work and the "C" students are all working at Starbucks or Macy's like friends of mine are. I'm an "A" student, I received all A's in my computer animation classes with the toughest instructor at the school and I'm having a hell of a time finding stable work.

Again, anything is possible, however things highly favor a private art school versus anything else.

I also forgot to suggest this book: http://www.amazon.com/Animators-Survival-Kit-Expanded-Principles/dp/0571238343/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330614614&sr=8-1

It's hands down the best book on animation there is, I'm going to have to buy a new copy soon, mine is falling apart because I use it so much.

I see you have a good start to what could become a great passion for you. I personally love drawing and I think this book could be just what you need to teach you how to REALLY see things. There are things in the book that regular drawing teachers don't tell you how to actually visualize things. If you actually read it and do all the exercises I think you will find it very helpful! I did. :)
http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Right-Side-Brain-Definitive/dp/1585429201

I personally think the opposite. Photo realism is not "advanced". Painting impressionistically is not beginner either. What you need for impressionist painting comes off the back of photorealism. Copying a photo does not make you advanced. Infusing a photo with emotion and meaning makes you advanced. This painting is just that. And I love it. I am honestly tired seeing a photorealistic drawing and then clicking the comments just to see "Wow! I thought it was a photo" over and over again. Not to knock it, but this sort of work takes a different kind of skill. You need a handle (hah) on your brushwork and how you react to what you see. Difficult as fuck. Im still learning how to do this myself.

Learning "how to see" is definitely the cornerstone in becoming a better artist, though. That I agree with. Don't equate impressionism with not being able to do this. In my opinion they do it the best. I recommend anyone learning to pick up "drawing on the right side of the brain". Thats what personally helped me with getting things right. I used to draw photorealistic but I felt that it was an empty sort of exercise. Where do you go from there? Here. You go here. You express yourself.

Love the painting

For drawings like these, you should vary the thickness of your lines more. Using different values for your lines will help your drawings pop. My friend, who is an accomplished artist, does a lot of drawings like these, here is a link to a gallery of some of his drawings that are similar to yours. Jack Graves III . Be sure to click the thumbnails for a full size view.

You should seriously consider getting a pack of art pens. They will help you immensely with this, and they are worth the less than $20 investment. Here are three to browse on Amazon. Prismacolor, Faber-Castell, and Sakura Micron Pens.

I was in a similar place

put a sketchbook in front of you - start there then work the piece digitally - be it scanning or just using the initial sketch as reference

Something is lost when you are drawing on a tablet but looking at a screen

that is unless you have a super awesome tablet that doubles as a monitor (drool)

also - this - Gurney is one of my heroes - he wrote and did the art for the dinotopia series

conceptart.org has some good stuff, they make DVDs too. You could probably pirate them, were you a person of low moral fiber.

There are some good books out there too, which you can probably get from the local library. You might need to use interlibrary loan though, my local libraries have a poor selection of art books, but there isn't anything they haven't been able to find at another library.

Color in Contemporary Painting

The Art of Color

Mastering Composition

Abstraction in Art and Nature

The Art Spirit

Some people don't care about theory, but personally I find it inspiring. Art in Theory 1900-1990 is a good collection of writings by artists, critics, and the like. If you're weak on art history you might want to study some of that first, History of Modern Art is pretty good.

Mark Kistler's Draw Squad for $.23 from amazon

It is aimed at kids, but it is a great start for fundamentals of drawing. After that, i'd pick up How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way

It has one of the best explanations for perspective that i have found

Edit: I suck at links

Here are the Micron pens on Amazon:
Sakura 30062 6-Piece Pigma Micron Ink Pen Set, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0008G8G8Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_HCfTzbB84JPJQ

If you want to look at other brands just do a Google search for fine-tip felt pens. Honestly don't worry about metal tips until later.

Here's a YouTube video you might find helpful:
https://youtu.be/pE5JgjgOw7M

Good luck!

I have heard good things about the Yiynova. However, I have not used it personally and really haven't heard anything other than "it is a great alternative to the Cintiq", from a teacher of mine. I'm thinking I actually may buy one soon though. For $600 it is pretty tempting.

Here is a video with a guy briefly using it. Skip to 5:58 to see him make tiny strokes really fast to show there isn't any lag etc etc.

Check out some comments on Amazon. And keep googling, cause I'm sure there are others.

if you're interested in taking some time to read a book and maybe buying a few art supplies. "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" a book by Betty Edwards is pretty amazing for improving your drawing technique by leaps and bounds(from personal experiance). You can find it on Amazon.Link

The Natural Way to Draw has excellent exercises and is designed to mirror a rigorous drawing course. You can go your own speed and IMO it's really the best DIY for improving skills.

It's a great start! An underpainting is a really good way to bring out depth and variance in your colors and painting.

If you want a really good book on painting and color, check out this:

https://www.amazon.com/Color-Light-Realist-Painter-Gurney/dp/0740797719/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499313656&sr=8-1&keywords=color+and+light

what you are doing is probably the best thing you can do. the second best thing would be to have a look at Bridgeman's Complete Guide to Drawing From Life and then keep drawing. You are right, hands are hard!

edit: I also just learned (by linking to the bridgeman book on amazon) that andrew loomis's books have FINALLY been reissued. Like bridgeman, his books are essential. I remember a few years ago his books were going for $100+. get them.

It depends on the space. The short answer is ask the people who are running the space. If you're walking in cold, don't shove your portfolio in their face, and don't drop it off expecting it to be looked at. Find out what their policies are and the best time to speak with the manager (or who ever is running the space), and go from there.

Another way is to put on your own show. Find a space, get some artists (or do it yourself), and you can do all the promotion & take care of all the details.

as for how I've done it... Yeah the best way is to just dig for information. Every major city (and many smaller ones) has an art scene. Find them, talk to people, get involved. There is no exact right way/wrong way to do this.

As to going to school, what galleries want is good art. There are some spaces dedicated to outsider (not professionally trained) artists, so don't let that stop you. Going to school will help with technique, but most of the job related stuff I learned after I graduated from college.

I'd say, look at your art and your experience history. Some galleries won't be interested in someone with no show experience (there are exceptions to every rule), but some are. Look at the artists who are showing there, not just their work but their resume or c/v, and see if they are somewhat similar to yours.

Expect rejection, it's part of the game.

Good Luck!

this book may help

By yourself a set of acrylics (red, yellow, blue, black, brown, white). Mix up 8 big blobs of brownish or grayish colors as follows:

One Warm Light (yellowish or orangish or reddish)
One Cool Light (blueish or greenish or purplish)
One Warm Medium
One Cool Medium
One Warm Dark
One Cool Dark
White
Black

Then make a painting using only those 8 colors (and only mixes from those 8 colors you made). Force yourself to use all of the paint and cover every inch of the canvas/board/paper.

When you finish your painting by a copy of Robert Henri's "The Art Spirit"

http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Spirit-Robert-Henri/dp/0465002633

Yeah love his art, espeically Tales From The Loop, where many of the works are of the countryside outside of Stockholm, namely Ekerö.

His splashes of sci-fi in these settings are hauntingly beautiful.

Check out [Bargue's Drawing Course] (http://www.amazon.com/Charles-Bargue-Jean-L%C3%A9on-G%C3%A9r%C3%B4me-Ackerman/dp/2867702038) . The original course was put together by Charles Bargue and Jean Leon Gerome in the 19th century intended for training students at french academies / decorative arts schools. The book consists of many plates of lithographs made after famous greek/roman sculpture and drawings by various masters.

It teaches the artist how to begin a drawing such as this one by blocking in simple shapes and gradually refining those shapes, eventually into light and dark. The final drawings can be quite complex.

There is zero concern with perspective in this approach, which is entirely devoted to developing the artist's ability to draw from his or her visual field. Objects are not seen as 3 dimensional, but as a collection of 2 dimensional shapes that the artist must reproduce. The course is also concerned with instilling s classical taste in the student. It is also a great prelude to drawing a physical cast.

I have two types of pens that I use. The first is the Pilot V5 which is a gel ball point pen http://www.amazon.com/Pilot-Precise-Stick-Rolling-Extra/dp/B00006IEBI

The second type is Sakura Micron pens which an assorted set can be found here http://www.amazon.com/Sakura-30062-6-Piece-Pigma-Micron/dp/B0008G8G8Y/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370448156&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=macron+pen

Hope this helps and good luck!

http://www.amazon.com/Yiynova-MSP19U-Monitor-Windows-Solution/dp/B009QQ7BG0
I got my Yiynova a couple of years ago and have no complaints about the tablet sensitivity. The monitor itself isn't great, and you have to uninstall any Wacom drivers to get the tablet to play nice, but it's serviceable as an inexpensive Cintiq alternative. Good luck!

I would like to suggest a book for her. It explains the concept of using the physical act of drawing to see. Its an excellent book, and the book my college professor teaches directly from. It will literally teach her how to draw like the Greats, and teach her a college level course ;D

http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Way-Draw-Working-Study/dp/0395530075

Drawing From the Right Side of the Brain is a classic with some great exercises. Have fun!

http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Right-Side-Brain-Definitive/dp/1585429201

Anatomy for the Artist by Sarah Simblet. Helps you better understand how the body is constructed = better drawings

http://www.amazon.ca/Anatomy-Artist-Sarah-Simblet/dp/078948045X

This is also a really great book, you can download a PDF too :)

I haven't picked it up yet, and I know he's got more than one, but you'd probably love his art books!

This guy is a brilliant painter. One of my favorite painting books is written by him:
light and color

That's a big question! I've been painting for 30 years and was an art teacher for 17. I think the secret ingredient to what I do is TIME--literally decades of practice--and a heaping dose of patience. I've recently started a channel on YouTube where I attempt to show people my techniques, if you're interested: http://www.youtube.com/user/pupedd As far as books go, I don't have much to recommend for watercolor, but I received this one recently and it blew my mind as far as color and light are concerned. Wish I would have had this as a student! http://www.amazon.com/Color-Light-Guide-Realist-Painter/dp/0740797719

I highly recommend trying out Micron Pens if you haven't, they go on super smooth and dry very quickly so you get minimal smudging.

I have a degree in graphic design so it wasn't a huge career change for me. There's lots of overlap in terms of software/skills for both design and illustration.

As for tips, I would recommend learning about light and color. Even if you're doing pen drawings, knowing how to look at an object is just as important as anything else. [This was a fantastic book by James Gurney I always recommend.] (https://www.amazon.com/Color-Light-Realist-Painter-Gurney/dp/0740797719)

I bought these. I never had a set of ink pens before that varied in size like these with quality ink.

They're a joy to draw with.

Admittedly both artistically trained and not a parent, so I don't know if this is too out of left field. Though were I to have kids, and find out they have a thing for narrative art. I'd get this book and this book off the shelf and show it to them. I wish I had these books when I was just learning how to draw.

Don't force them to do any of the lessons out of it or anything. Just keep it as a reference book for them, if they choose to want to go beyond stick figures. These two books have pretty much all the information required to render objects and people correctly, and apply that towards the conventions of comics and narrative story telling.

As an aside though, drawing in particular is a trained skill. You could learn alongside your kid if you had the time/energy.

A book called anatomy for the artist

http://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Artist-Sarah-Simblet/dp/078948045X

I had it at my college library and it was pretty good.

I recall now where I heard that technique first described, have you ever read "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way"? It goes through a lot of examples like head-to-body ratio, camera angle, perspective lines, etc. but also includes how the figures are posed. Straight-on like this is boring, but put the "camera" so the figures are in perspective, and it's a lot more cinematic.

Try Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, and, well, practice makes perfect.

I bought his book https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Loop-Simon-St%C3%A5lenhag/dp/1624650392 and its more of a diary of growing up in the islands of Stockholm, during the swedish experiment called the ring installation is taking place, and he's explaining what's in every picture of the book and what he sees etc. Great scifi in the 70/80 , I also bought a print of http://i.imgur.com/MFzUwwB.jpg since it's from the town I'm living in

He's released some hardcover books of his work: 'Tales from the Loop', 'Things from the Flood'

He's also working on his Third, which looks like it might be my favorite

I'm going to butt in here real quick. If you're interested in books about anatomy, check out Burne Hogarth, he used to draw the Tarzan novels. He's also done many books on anatomy one specifically of hands, the rest of his anatomy books can be found on amazon as well.

Microns like this in a moleskin notebook. Moleskins are expensive but I think it's a nice investment.

You can most definitely train those things. Drawing a lot (a lot) helps. Talent is a significant factor in art, sadly, but it doesn't mean you can't learn how to draw well. You just won't be Salvador Dali at age 5, well, neither was he. Some artists were early prodigies, some weren't.

But, seriously, muscle control and visual thinking are trainable. The whole problem with this "talent" stuff is people start thinking it isn't just because they weren't born with it.

Look at http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Right-Side-Brain-Definitive/dp/1585429201

Be forewarned that snobs will likely poop on you for posting a video game character.

I like your shading, but the structure's still a bit wonky. A bit of uncertainty in lines and angles of the face, less pronounced in the clothes because the shading is better and they flow naturally. I think maybe you should find one of those old "how to draw comics" books and start working on the basic figures and stick drawings. Making all your characters X heads tall and stuff like that. Here's the book I had when I was a kid that has all that stuff.

Or-
http://www.amazon.com/New-Drawing-Right-Side-Brain/dp/0874774241

It's very effective in my experience. Most people can't naturally pick up drawing from scratch. In fact, I'd say 99 percent cant o that. That's why there are so few artists.

It’s free, for anyone interested

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

Arguably the best drawing instruction book available.

These are a really good alternative: http://amzn.com/B0008G8G8Y

I used those for a long time, only switched to the expensive ones because you can replace the tips and ink

blog answer:

http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Right-Side-Brain-Definitive/dp/1585429201

my favorite pen: homemade quill

These are just about my favorite art books.

The Art Spirit by Robert Henri

What Painting Is by James Elkins

A Giacometti Portrait by James Lord

Here is a good, relatively cheap, book I would suggest.

I'll say Tue same thing I said to you in /r/ArtCrit.

I see some orangutan hands going on here. Measure the distance from the wrist to the first knuckle joint at the base of the fingers and compare it to the length of the fingers themselves. See the problem? Go to your library and get this book: http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Dynamic-Hands-Burne-Hogarth/dp/0823013677
http://thedevildraws.tumblr.com/post/20445414784/robfunderburk-grim-natwick-anatomy-studies#disqus_thread
http://thedevildraws.tumblr.com/post/18993893591/anatomical-studies-of-the-hands-and-feet-as-done#disqus_thread
Now do this, go get a straight edge. Take the straight edge and place it against your brow and lips, see how those line up? The brow sticks out because it forms the socket that holds the eye ball, and the lips stick out because of their jaw structure and muscle and fat. But notice here in your drawing that the brow ridge is very flat and the angle of her face shoots out as her lips and jaw protrude? That's a facial aspect of large apes like gorillas not humans. http://www.igorilla.org/assets/images/who/skulls4.jpg okay yes it's not quite as prominent as a gorilla, but you get the idea.

The natural way to draw, Kimon Nicolaides

Has schedules and everything, your very own art course in a book!

"Artists can color the sky red because they know it's blue. Those of us who aren't artists must color things the way they really are or people might think we're stupid" - Jules Feiffer

I think I am understanding your question wrong. What do you mean by "systematic categorization knowledge-base"?

Not sure if this could help but this is a great book on color and light. From the artist behind Dinotopia. And his blog is filled with some amazing information and art links too.

http://www.amazon.com/Color-Light-Guide-Realist-Painter/dp/0740797719/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Every artist should spend a little time on his blog.

http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/

If you like this, check out Stålenhag's books: Tales from the Loop, Things from the Flood, and The Electric State

Looks like Sakura Microns or Copic Multiliners. The markers are Copic Sketch.

The Artist's Complete Guide to Facial Expresson by Gary Faigin

if you draw faces or anything that looks like faces this is the book that answers all of your questions.

A little too tentacular for my tastes, but her eyes are amazing.

Also, the actual book itself is just as terrible as I imagined.

>Escape the Island of Eldritch Lust (Princess to Pleasure Slave Adventure 2)

Full title https://www.amazon.com/Escape-Eldritch-Princess-Pleasure-Adventure-ebook/dp/B075889FNB, so it's porn. I guess titles are effective:

>His words trail off as you slide from your bench onto your hands and knees and crawl over to him. You gaze hungrily into his eyes as you climb onto his lap. You pull your skirt up and settling your plump bottom atop him. You unbutton your shirt and expose the soft, ample mounds of your breasts cradled by the lace of your bra. He gazes up at you with a surprised grin on his face. You thrust your breasts into his face, smothering his nose and warm lips in the valley between your tits.

>Bog reaches around and grabs your ass with both hands. He moans with lust, his breath hot in your cleavage as he begins kissing the tops of your tits. You unbuckle your bra and shrug it off, feeling a thrill at exposing yourself to this man who is practically a stranger. He ogles your erect nipples and your creamy mounds, but keeps his hands squeezing and cradling your ass in his lap.

Found the english names for the books.
Tales from the Loop
Things from the Flood

According to the description of his art book Tales from the Loop, the interdimensional convergence was a trippy side effect of a particle collider experiment.

www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0008G8G8Y/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497855977&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=micron+pens

Have you read Betty Edwards' Drawing on the right side of the brain? I personally went through a similar before and after transformation as these student pictures show.

Try the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Try the exercises suggested there.

Here you go this is an incredible book.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009QQ7BG0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B009QQ7BG0&linkCode=as2&tag=frenden-20 Is probably the least expensive one I've seen.

http://www.amazon.com/How-Survive-Prosper-Artist-5th/dp/0805068007

http://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-Comics-Marvel-Way/dp/0671530771/ref=sr_1_84?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373004264&sr=1-84&keywords=anatomy+for+the+artist

http://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Stephen-published-University-Textbook/dp/B008TC2H5M/ref=sr_1_240?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373004756&sr=1-240&keywords=anatomy+for+the+artist

Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist by Stephen Rogers Peck is nice. It covers the bones, muscles, and surface anatomy (fat, hair, veins, etc.). It also has sections ( smaller than the three above though) on proportion, equilibrium and locomotion, differences of age, sex, and race, and facial expression. It's 279 pages, will take a while to read, and can be exhausting if you're not interested. http://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Anatomy-Artist-Stephen-Rogers/dp/0195030958

http://www.amazon.com/Sakura-30062-6-Piece-Pigma-Micron/dp/B0008G8G8Y/ref=zg_bs_12896761_2

I'm thinking of getting Sakura pens for my friend, but I'm worried she already has them. Do they need to be replaced often?

Charles Bargue http://www.amazon.com/Charles-Bargue-Jean-L%C3%A9on-G%C3%A9r%C3%B4me-Ackerman/dp/2867702038

Godfried Bammes "Die Gestalt Menschen" http://www.amazon.ca/Die-Gestalt-Menschen-Gottfried-Bammes/dp/3862300013 or Der nackte Mensch

I used to draw everyday, and I love art. I never stopped being interested in art, but I did abandon drawing for a long time - almost a decade. I had a terrible experience in high school - there were 4 (I believe) art teachers, and they were all terrible. I don't know how exactly it happened, but taking art classes in high school (I took various sorts every year) killed it for me.

Halfway through grade 9 I stopped drawing outside of assignments I had to do for class - and even then, I didn't do it with any gusto. I kept taking the classes because I didn't really notice that I had stopped drawing (in fact, I started to hate it); since I didn't practice much (especially over the summers), and the instruction we received was awful, I got worse and worse.

After high school, I tried to pick it back up a number of times with no success because I just lost confidence: I couldn't draw as well as I was able to before, so it made it really easy to just give up.

That said, I started drawing again (and consistently) about a week ago. There was a post here on r/Art that I commented on - it was an example of really good criticism from conceptart.org - and another Redditor recommended this book, which I bought and have been working through.