Hello mods! Can I get some help with this character’s anatomy? I’m having troubles with the torso area, especially. If possible, could I also get some tips on face shapes? I can’t seem to get them right, and it ends up not looking like the person I’m refencing. This is supposed to be Ray from The Promised Neverland but i cant make it actually look like him. Sorry if it looks too sketchy btw ;^;
It’s no problem that it looks sketchy! That’s what we’re here to help for. However, when you’re documenting work for presenting online or to other people for critique, there are a few pointers I’d like to give!
You should take the picture in neutral light (such as near a windowsill when it’s sunny) because lamp light may be off-color. Make sure your camera/phone is parallel to the page so that the drawing does not skew and look tilted. It may also look blurry because your camera is too zoomed in on the page. It’s more important to have a clear picture of your lines instead of a picture that fills up your photo. You can always crop and edit after taking the photo!
For the face, there may be some stylistic choices you have to compromise on in order to look more like the character. His hair is very spiky, and the anime makes his jaw look extremely angular. If you incorporate these things into your drawing more, it would convey his cool, stoic look better.
I would make his torso larger in proportion to his head if you want a more semi-realistic look in line with the anime. It’s good that you’ve gotten the line of action and I can see guidelines for the rib cage and pelvis. Remember that there is some space between those two masses for the abdomen, so that makes the torso look longer. Having the line of action as a flat curve may flatten the overall look because we think it’s following the curve of the body but it is not. I would recommend to either erase this line or draw a new one following the curves of things like the protrusion of the chest and the stomach!
Wow, this was a lot of writing. I hope this helped you!
