I don't understand how you learn to draw and still develop a distinct style.
The books I got from the library just seem like I'm copying what I see, is that really helping?
>>2439729
Ok here is literally what style is, tell someone to draw a dog, a car, a girl. Whatever they draw without reference or any further description is their style. I'd go to my computer and I'd draw an American animation style bulldog with exaggerated front legs and I'd colour it loosely. Tada style. If you ask Kim jun gi he'd draw a Rottweiler in detail with a brush pen. Tada style. Get it?
>>2439729
It's the way you see interpret reality and use your tools. There are many different ways say to describe the form of the nose, and aslong as there's some design sense from reality then its usually gonna be good. Hair is random, people describe the randomness of hair in different ways, e.g their style. Everyone uses different tools and use them differently. E.g using brush pen instead of a normal pen, using sides of pencil more, pressing harder, etc..
>>2439729
when you really learn to DRAW, then you don't copy shit.
You grab your pen either wacom or a real one, sketch, construct and finish what you like to see and this is your style.
If you underlay "reference" under your drawing layer it's not the same as just doing what you want to.
Your style will come from how you interpret and reflect what you learn. Don't force it. Worry about learning and your style will come from that.
>>2439729
You shouldn't copy what you see, or else you start to tend to imitate someone else's style before developing your own which can result in creative crutches. The more you draw from life (and the longer) your style will literally fall into place before you know it. Trust.
This is why everyone always repeats "draw from life." Life is literally the one reference that you should use to develop your style, not someone else's drawings.
>>2439744
That is one of the most idiotic things I have ever read on /ic/. Stylization means to make conscious design choices, it has nothing whatsoever to do with whether you use reference or draw from imagination.
Pic related, animal studies by Mignola. From reference, yet clearly distinctively done in his design language.
>>2439744
You can have style even if you use reference you know.
>>2439729
Your style will come to you as you develop as an artist. It's what colors you choose, your compositions, your exaggerations, what you leave out, what you include, what you simplify etc. Once you have a firmer grasp of the basics and you're struggling to apply them, you can set your mind to work on design choices.
>>2439754
>If you underlay "reference" under your drawing layer it's not the same as just doing what you want to.
That is a load of horse shit.
Reference is reference. It's a tool, and its use does not preclude stylization. Using reference to study as well as to achieve finished piece is time honored and used in the past and by modern artists.
>>2439832
>'what the fuck'
>look at sig
>'What the FUck'
Beginners shouldn't bother even thinking about style until they actually know what they're doing.
Let it come. Fretting over 'creating your style' when you have no fucking idea what you're doing will simply result in you designing a really shitty style and shooting yourself in the foot.
Learning fundamentals gives you the foundations from which you can build an actually good looking style. And no, you're not supposed to just 'copy what you see' out of books, you're supposed to read them and internalize the concepts they're addressing. The writer will usually TELL YOU what they're trying to teach.
I've seen countless beginners (myself included for a while) literally copy the Loomis faces out of fun with a pencil then bitch that it didn't help, completely ignorant of the point that learning how to draw a silly cartoon face just like Loomis does isn't the point of the exercise, it's learning construction from shapes.
>>2439911
Also, I'm looking at the beginner's guide. If I specifically want to do cartooning/manga, do I need to learn how to draw from life? Could I go straight to step 2?
>>2439813
I was quoting Jake Parker.
He has a whole 20 minute video on finding your style and uses the exact same example.
>If someone wakes you up in the middle of the night hands you a pen and says draw, that's your style.
I totally believe that so fuck off with your "most idiotic things on /ic/ you'll understand when you're better educated.
>>2439816
I didn't say you couldn't.
Also your example isn't someone stylizing a subject he's just using a pose reference big difference.
>>2439922
>Could I go straight to step 2?
You can if you want to draw really shitty deviantart tier cartoons.
I don't subscribe to that awful meme of "to draw this [kitsch cutsey anime] you have to be able to draw this [academic russian life drawing]" shit, but even anime artists (at least the ones worth a shit) know how to observe and draw from life. Sometimes some anime artist sketchbooks go around and when you look at it, you see proper studies and demonstrations of genuine understanding of the subject matter they stylize. They can adjust what they see to their own style. To be able to do that, you need to be able to actually draw and understand what you see in the first place.
Don't skip to stylizing because it'll cut out actually understanding what you're trying to stylize. Learn to observe.
>>2439948
I see, I'll take that into account.
>>2439927
>you'll understand when you're better educated.
Better educated as in "watched a Jake Parker video and started to parrot it brainlessly"?
>>2440014
>Jake Parker is the only person with this opinion
Or you could just consult common sense? If you're idea of style is "conscious decisions in design" then your definition of style is arbitrarily chosen, not innately acquired, it is something applied, not developed. That's totally counter to what people mean when they talk about a personal style.
Frankly I think you're confusing the style of the art to the style of the artist.
Or maybe the idea is just too challenging to your preconceived definition of "style" ^.^
>>2443207
Haha Nah niggah I'm the guy who posted the Jake parker qoute and told that fuck to get better educated, you make a great point. Most good artists fan apply elements of another artist consciously and make their art resemble that artist. This is Mich different from an artists own style that they acquired through their training and from how they prefer to draw, Jake parker was talking about an artists own style that comes out just through putting down an image with free reign over creative decisions
>>2443266
Mah niggah* autocorrect
your style is communicated in the best way when you can take artistic liberties that aren't distracting
this is easier when you have a tight grasp on the fundamentals and know what you have the skills to "edit" in a way that is comes off as unique instead of wrong. you establish the "frame" that you work in as an artist, and everything within that frame comes off naturally in its own way
if the viewer is aware that your work isn't SUPPOSED to be a photocopy of a real life figure or portrait, then the fact that the proportions don't match real life don't matter as much and they'll appreciate it for what it is
for example
let's say that your favorite drink is orange juice, but you still enjoy cranberry juice
Drinking cranberry juice from a cranberry juice carton will taste good, even though it isn't your favorite. After all, you expected cranberry juice
but if you drink from an orange juice container expecting orange juice and get cranberry juice in your mouth, it'll reflexively disgust you and you'll want to spit it out for being wrong.
Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless and add what is specifically your own
>>2439819
spotted the tracer
>>2439729
Disclaimer: Might be wrong
At least for me, I focus on remembering certain observations and using them later. Like proportions, how a fold works, how the neck connects etc.
This slowly adds layers of complexity, freedom, and understanding in your drawings.
Style tends to come from exaggeration and moderation. If you want to do cute cartoon eyes, studying 100 real eyes is going to be more help than anything else.
Then again, I don't take larger bites than I can chew, I tend to stay on the edge of my comfort zone, not too far in or out.
>>2443459
Should've discarded that medicine.
>>2443459
Identify the particular aspect of the style you like. Be specific. Then try to understand why they made it look that way, what they were trying to accomplish, which aspect of reality was it based on. Then think about how they did it. The technique, tools, medium, etc..
You can copy the images at any point throughout those steps if it will help you to understand, but never think that just copying something will be enough.
>>2439813
He's talking about your...lets say innate style...which is unique to each person...i think stylization is a result of that and concious choices...thats why even if you try you cant have the same style as someone else...or something like that.
>>2439729
I think style is the way you handle problem, how it turns out is another thing. Look is something you can imitate really quick by doing some studies but the way you draw, the way you even hold your pen/brush thats style.
No style == no imagination.
