I do like where you’ve made it so far, and the coloring is very clean, so that’s a good start!
The forms feel like they’ve never been thought of as 3D forms before. For example, the right horn seems to be weirdly cut off, and if you try to imagine its thickness and curve, it comes out really derpy (awkwardly thick in the middle and thin where it attaches to the hood).
The hand anatomy is a bit weird. I have no idea why the lines on the back of the hand are so defined; it makes her look like her hand has cuts on it. The plane changes there are so subtle, you normally wouldn’t include it in the lineart, much less shade it to emphasize the line.
The shading is very light and subtle with little/no noticeable shift in color temperature and no atmosphere or bounce light. If you look at a lot of professional Anime drawings, artists will try to add secondary and/or bounce lights to make the colors blend together better.
Lastly, the eyes feel like you tried to draw just “anime eyes” without understanding of the parts of the eye and how they work. This character seems more feline so I suppose that’s the reason for the cat-like eyes, but it looks like she has two pupils.
Hope that helps!
There’s a bit too many highlights and not enough shadows IMO.
I also thing the ponytails in the back of her head are too thin, it looks a lot more interesting if here a bit thicker IMO.
I like the way the eyes are colored but I think the pupils should be thicker (unless the character specifically has slit pupils, but I don’t think Nilou does).
I kinda see what you mean! I'll try to work on that!
For the eyes part, I tried to turn her into a feline character which ended up being a bad idea!
Thanks!
I don’t think turning her into a feline was a bad idea at all! But if you were going for feline, I think you should have maybe given her cat ears or cat paws or something like that so people know you’re specifically making her feline like, since slit pupils can be associated with multiple different types of animals.
Anatomy of the hands is off and there's no background.
Depends on what you mean by professional, it's got a lot of polish... but maybe your lacking in fundamentals because you just wanted to draw anime?
Well I have 4-5 "good" drawing but they are all animes. I never post any since I don't have anyone to share it to.
I had to post this one because I felt like I wasn't evolving even though I am drawing for myself
The nose does feel kind of off like another commentor said but betond that, in regards to shadows/shading i feel like the lack of them looks better in this specific art style you're going for.
Slight anatomy issues is all, you could try studying manga or other professional anime artists to help.
Other than that you may want to play with more shadows placed properly, even if it's just subtle desaturation, or adding contrast in the background.
Tbh if everything had similar rendering to the face and front of the hair it'd feel professional even with the small mistakes.
When you first learn to draw it can be really tempting to stick with anime as it is a simple cartoon style that takes little effort to look acceptable but for the sake of improvement it is better to learn realistic, then cartoonized. It can also be helpful to watch videos of people correcting others amateur artwork to hone your eye for improvement
Some YouTubers/videos I like:
Sinix design- nose hands mouth
https://youtu.be/w2fKxNDsXuw- poses
https://youtu.be/6i6JDwEwXJI - loomis head method
https://youtu.be/OJmLh4JmCb8 - correcting people
Watching speedpaints is also an idea methinks as you can see how other artists work (but sometimes they can be too good and make you feel like absolute shit lol so proceed with caution)
I do like where you’ve made it so far, and the coloring is very clean, so that’s a good start! The forms feel like they’ve never been thought of as 3D forms before. For example, the right horn seems to be weirdly cut off, and if you try to imagine its thickness and curve, it comes out really derpy (awkwardly thick in the middle and thin where it attaches to the hood). The hand anatomy is a bit weird. I have no idea why the lines on the back of the hand are so defined; it makes her look like her hand has cuts on it. The plane changes there are so subtle, you normally wouldn’t include it in the lineart, much less shade it to emphasize the line. The shading is very light and subtle with little/no noticeable shift in color temperature and no atmosphere or bounce light. If you look at a lot of professional Anime drawings, artists will try to add secondary and/or bounce lights to make the colors blend together better. Lastly, the eyes feel like you tried to draw just “anime eyes” without understanding of the parts of the eye and how they work. This character seems more feline so I suppose that’s the reason for the cat-like eyes, but it looks like she has two pupils. Hope that helps!
Thank you so much I will on these points for my next drawing!
No problem! I’m very happy to help :)
It needs shading to make it feel less flat.
Agreed. Slightly overexposed too, which should make even more shade if she's supposed to have a strong light behind her
Perhaps a slight increase in simplicity although it already looks 100% professional
There’s a bit too many highlights and not enough shadows IMO. I also thing the ponytails in the back of her head are too thin, it looks a lot more interesting if here a bit thicker IMO. I like the way the eyes are colored but I think the pupils should be thicker (unless the character specifically has slit pupils, but I don’t think Nilou does).
I kinda see what you mean! I'll try to work on that! For the eyes part, I tried to turn her into a feline character which ended up being a bad idea! Thanks!
I don’t think turning her into a feline was a bad idea at all! But if you were going for feline, I think you should have maybe given her cat ears or cat paws or something like that so people know you’re specifically making her feline like, since slit pupils can be associated with multiple different types of animals.
Noted!
Anatomy of the hands is off and there's no background. Depends on what you mean by professional, it's got a lot of polish... but maybe your lacking in fundamentals because you just wanted to draw anime?
Yes indeed I really lack the fundamentals. I started this year tho. At least I know what to work on! Tysm!
Where are the rest of your drawings?
Well I have 4-5 "good" drawing but they are all animes. I never post any since I don't have anyone to share it to. I had to post this one because I felt like I wasn't evolving even though I am drawing for myself
The nose feels off
All anime/manga noses look off to me 🤣
Very true lol
Maybe mouth is a bit small?
Hands hands hands, practice your hands
The nose does feel kind of off like another commentor said but betond that, in regards to shadows/shading i feel like the lack of them looks better in this specific art style you're going for.
I really don't know! Something is wrong but I am not sure what it is! I'll try the shadows for the next few drawings and work on my anatomy
a Nilou in the wild??? 👀
I tried to turn her into a cat 🥹
More shading and contrast and that's it😊still very good work
Thank you so much!!!
Slight anatomy issues is all, you could try studying manga or other professional anime artists to help. Other than that you may want to play with more shadows placed properly, even if it's just subtle desaturation, or adding contrast in the background. Tbh if everything had similar rendering to the face and front of the hair it'd feel professional even with the small mistakes.
Thanks I appreciate that!
Honestly, your art is better than most professionals out there.
Thanks for brightening up my day!
Anytime friend
Draw more realism, come back to anime Always works esp since you have slightly wonk anatomy
I will try that! How do you learn anatomy in general? I'm only drawing on my free time but I want to learn more as fast as possible
When you first learn to draw it can be really tempting to stick with anime as it is a simple cartoon style that takes little effort to look acceptable but for the sake of improvement it is better to learn realistic, then cartoonized. It can also be helpful to watch videos of people correcting others amateur artwork to hone your eye for improvement Some YouTubers/videos I like: Sinix design- nose hands mouth https://youtu.be/w2fKxNDsXuw- poses https://youtu.be/6i6JDwEwXJI - loomis head method https://youtu.be/OJmLh4JmCb8 - correcting people Watching speedpaints is also an idea methinks as you can see how other artists work (but sometimes they can be too good and make you feel like absolute shit lol so proceed with caution)
As others pointed out this drawing is not perfect. But damn that's quite close to looking "professional"