Artsy Question - Been Racking My Brains About this for Weeks

[Little_Bird_Sorrel]

So recently I've gotten into an art slump because I realized my drawings are too generic. I got advice from a professor about it, and he said that I should draw really simple things that are good for my skill level. Like Charlie Brown, Cyanide and Happiness, and Power Puff Girls simple. It took my stubborn brain a while to realize that he was telling me to go back to basics, and that its a really good exercise. I'm trying, but everything comes out so unappealing, unimaginative, and all together blander than dry fat free whole wheat toast . In a nutshell, how do I get out of this funk and what can I do to make my work pop and stand out? Thanks for everything!

[ponygrl07]

I would suggest doing the exact opposite. Maybe trying to focus details.These details don't necessarily have to be things just doodles work great.  I use to have to draw a simple image (a leaf or outline of an animal) then fill in with as much detail as possible. Trying all different kinds of detail may help you find a style or something that adds a bit of a "kick" to your drawings.
LOTS of doodling helps.
Sample of doodles Ive done focusing on just details.
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Hope it helps. I hate the art slumps and ruts.
 

[Little_Bird_Sorrel]

Thanks Ponygrl07! That helps!

Post Merge: December 13, 2014, 08:18:15 PM

Ohh! He also said the expressive nature of my simple drawing's lines were lacking. I have an idea of what this means. Like it goes back to the whole lacking style and appeal thing. I don't know how to handle that, either.

[ZennaBug]

Could you show us an example of one of your drawings that you feel lacks life?  Maybe we can give you some constructive crit and help you think of something to make it exciting.

[Little_Bird_Sorrel]

Could you show us an example of one of your drawings that you feel lacks life?  Maybe we can give you some constructive crit and help you think of something to make it exciting.

Absolutely!
This was what I did before I knew that simplification meant simplification: https://sorrelsketchedthis.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/image.jpg  there's too much realistic-ish anatomy in this
This is when I got it a little closer to the goal: https://sorrelsketchedthis.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/image1.jpg   The lines aren't lively enough, and to be honest, this one only clicks for me a little.
And this is the crud I did before asking for help: https://sorrelsketchedthis.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/image1.jpg  It's just bad.

And this is a quick doodle I did last night. http://s1356.photobucket.com/user/Thesearepictures9/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps16812d19.jpg.html  I kinda like this one but the limbs look gross and horrible.

[Griffin]

For what it's worth, I think you have a great style and a real way with facial expressions! Your characters remind me of the classic Looney Tunes, which - in my opinion - shows that they're certainly not uninteresting or unappealing. That said, the bodies look somewhat stiff in comparison and that may be what makes them look "lifeless". If you can figure out how to give the bodies the same kind of expressiveness as the faces, I'm sure your work will improve a lot!

I would recommend croquis exercises. Knowing anatomy is important even for a cartoon artist, but currently it looks like you're maybe trying to focus too hard on getting the proportions "right" (realistic), which doesn't always work best for cartoon characters. Instead, working on depicting a pose, especially an action pose, with a few key lines would probably help you give your characters that spark of life. I've always been keen on small details so when our upper-secondary art teacher made us draw croquis, I found it really hard at first! In fact, she took us to watch an ice-hockey team training and made us draw the players while they were moving. Challenging, but very fun! We could only spend a couple of seconds per each drawing, trying to capture the general shape of the rapid movements with about three key lines showing the arch of the back, the stick, maybe an arm or a leg depending on the pose. You could do the same by drawing random people on the street, your pets if you have any, etc. As a general tip, simply sketching A LOT may work wonders. Don't be afraid of messy sketches as most often the ones that are the quickest and simplest are also the most expressive.

Another good exercise would be to focus on shapes rather than lines. The sketches you showed us suggest that you're already using shapes like circles/balls; maybe you could take one step further and try drawing or painting something completely without lines, creating the characters by using shapes and trying to make them look three-dimensional by shadowing. The same method works well with scenery and still-life drawings too. This kind of practice helps you improve your depth perception and with the knowledge you should be able to make your characters look less flat.

I hope you find some of these suggestions helpful! I know I should sketch a lot more and do similar kinds of exercises myself, conveying movement and perspectives are certainly not my strongest points either. Good luck!

[Little_Bird_Sorrel]

Thanks Griffin! This is crazy useful! We tried things like croquis in class, but we didn't do anything where we were focusing on moving people yet. I'm a bit nervous, but I'll do whatever it takes to get this done the right way. Thank you so much for the help!

[Tilas]

I disagree with your prof entirely. The more you try and force yourself out of your style, the more unhappy you'll be. This is a lesson I relearn the hard way all the time when I try to mimic other styles. I'm not happy because they're NOT MINE. Instead of trying to "draw your skill level" (which is a load of crap in itself), learn how to reference.  Very few artists can draw from the mind alone.  If your art is lifeless and still, it's because you can't draw flowing artwork by mental recall only.  Which is fine, very very very few can. If you want to draw, go scouring references before you do it. NEVER be afraid to reference! All artists do! You'll find your work becomes alive when you use references to help you draw.

[ZennaBug]

I think Griffin is spot-on.  I often struggle to come up with dynamic poses and when I am having a hard time getting everything just right, I will poke around for references.  I look at photos, drawings, and real life and just sketch and doodle the heck out of them until I feel like I know them well enough to do on my own.

If your professor typically wants to see realism and more traditional art styles, I can see that he would be suggesting you draw to your skill level.  But honestly, that's not a terribly useful way of putting it.  Plenty of amazing artists like to draw cartoons and that doesn't mean a thing about their (or your) skills.  Rather than simplifying your art and making pictures that you aren't happy with, maybe you should focus on drawing more from real-life until you are feeling more comfortable.  I had a band teacher who once said "you have to know all of the rules before you break them" in our theory lessons.  And I think that applies to art as well.  Learn the anatomy of your subject and practice drawing realism for a bit.  Shake your comfort zone up a bit.  Then, when you feel happy with those drawings, take what you have learned and apply it to your cartoons.

This is sort of what I mean.  It's a really old drawing (I did it almost 9 years ago) and I was in a moving car, but that's the best part about sketches lol.  It's ok if they don't look perfect.    I drew a bazillion of these doodles before I drew ponies at all.  And it still took me a while before I was able to transfer my horses to a decent cartoon pony.

[Little_Bird_Sorrel]

Thanks for the help! He's actually a cartoonist himself, and he does give very useful advice, and is actually really nice. I'm still trying to practice with gestures and simplification. The fact is now since we did a portfolio review the professors say that these drawings of people I did for a class assignment are really good and they're who I am. That in itself is a very nice compliment, and very encouraging. It's just now I really don't know what to do since now I like drawing this simple stuff, and I don't know if his comment was about the lines or the drawing itself. It's confusing now. Is it wrong to not want to do what they say or should I just go with it? I'm the type of person who just ends up doing it anyway, so that's another thing.

Post Merge: December 15, 2014, 08:23:27 AM

Not even sure if that makes sense.

[Mirnyj]

Looking at your sketches, I'd say you should let loose a little on the perfectionism. I'm by no means an artist but I am a perfectionist, and your sketches have so many lines in them that I'd say you've forgotten to have fun while trying to perfect each and every line. Give yourself a permission not to be perfect and I'm sure your drawings will start to come to life.

[Little_Bird_Sorrel]

Thanks . I'm trying to use less lines and to just do now. It's a lot more fun this way xD

Post Merge: December 16, 2014, 03:23:39 PM

Also I got feed back from four professors that my real talent is realism and that's what I should be doing. The thing is realism doesn't click for me. I only made an effort because everyone said it would be better for drawing cartoons. Two of my professors draw cartoons and teach a cartooning class, and they keep saying things like desire leads to disappointment and sadness, professionals know the difference, people who don't know art will say it's nice, and that people might skip over me for the person who knows how to try to do the style better. Of course they're all very nice and just want what's best to help me succeed, and a little critique really helps. To be honest I'm thinking that's why my stuff isn't that good. I mean I've been trying to draw simple things with little anatomy as one of them suggested, but I don't know if it looked good enough in the end. I don't want to draw realistically, but at the same I don't want to try to do something that I'm going to wind up not being good at. And the kind of person I am I'm going to try to defy it until I do it anyway. It usually makes me happier in the end. I've been asking for a lot people for advice, but I really don't know what to do. I tried taking as much advice as I could, but I don't know if I should draw cartoons in the end. Like I said the professors are all nice, helpful, polite, and have years of experience, so I'm kind of confused. Sorry about all these silly posts.

[Bunnymunch]

Thanks Ponygrl07! That helps!

Post Merge: December 13, 2014, 08:18:15 PM

Ohh! He also said the expressive nature of my simple drawing's lines were lacking. I have an idea of what this means. Like it goes back to the whole lacking style and appeal thing. I don't know how to handle that, either.

I think what he might mean is that you should try experimenting with different sketching/lineart techniques! Try drawing by moving your entire hand in big, sweeping motions, with little squiggles, heavy strokes, light strokes etc
It doesn't have to look good, but there are many different ways to make simple lines. Try a few and experiment!