Drawing without talent

[Harlequin_Felis]

I think some background info's needed first: I'm not a natural artist. In fact, I've barely put pencil to paper to make a picture in my life. I've always been better with words. Last September, I decided I should lear to draw. I have no idea why - it might be because I wanted a challenge, or it may be that I'm not a real Furry unless I can draw, love Disney'sRobin Hood or play DDR.

Needless to say, the latter two are out, for me.

Six months on, and I finally got to a level where the Geneva Convention will allow me to start showing some of my stuffs - like myprofile picture next to the post

On with the artses!


I've been practicing every other day to make a giftart piece for some of my closest friends of the last few years, and these were the first designs for thir facs and hair. Plus, my third time using the Copic markers!
http://harlequinfelis.deviantart.com/art/Giftart-design-Lineup-157031237

Altered design on Tia... wihtout the bob cut and a different look on the the short hair...I messed up the feet big time, and the cheap paper madethe ink bleed all over the place..
http://harlequinfelis.deviantart.com/art/Design-Giftart-Ruby-157030100

My friend Kaysy as her persona
http://harlequinfelis.deviantart.com/art/Giftart-Design-Kaysy-157033142

Ana, the younger fox
http://harlequinfelis.deviantart.com/art/Giftart-design-Ana-157032249

And Criss, a white Akita... Also, the first time I nailed on of my favourite artists styles, and made a passable 3/4 view ^^
http://harlequinfelis.deviantart.com/art/Giftart-design-Criss-157032004

The last person there, is a made up character of mine, Whist... She's been through about ten redesigns now, and this is the final concept
http://harlequinfelis.deviantart.com/art/Sketchbook-Whist-Final-157031620

There's other stuff too on my DA... Mostly pages from my sketchbook... You can kinda see how art's a process...

I can look back now and actually see how much I've improved in the last six months just by flicking through that first sketchpad.

So! What do you guys think? The months of practice starting to pay off?

[White Wolf Guardian]

D'awww, all of your drawings are so cute! I think they all look good myself, I wish I could draw facial features that well x.x

[WingedZephyr]

You'll inevitably get better if you practice, and it shows.

[Harlequin_Felis]

Hehe, thanks Wolf =^-^=  - I had pages of facial expressions practiced on my old laptop before it went asplodey on me... I love doing shocked and unimpressed faces the most... They just seem the most fun (plus the ¬¬ face is eaiser than anything else )

Practice is helping a lot, WZ... I like how I've actually gotten competent over the last 6 months...

And then I weep when my friend fDragon draws the most beautiful A4 sketch of me as my character in the exact pose I was sitting in as I atched a DVD....

In less than 3 minutes.

I have a lonnnng ways to go, xD

[Niala Ornitier]

original i love the colouring ^^

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

Oh my God, this is how I drew a few years ago. Exactly how I drew. That's eerie

[Harlequin_Felis]

That's... strangely comforting, xD - Means in a couple of years, I might actually be decent =^-^=

Got a couple more drawings almost finished... One my ex begged me to make, and a random pic of Blaze Redwolf from the forums (which'll be my first pic with a background, too). Should have them scanned as soon as soon as I can find out where the scanner's gone

EDIT:
Okay! Something bad happened to the finished Blaze picture. While I'm redrawing it, here's the reference with a crappy gradient BG.

http://harlequinfelis.deviantart.com/art/Blaze-Redwolf-157514911

And the coloured version of Criss:
http://harlequinfelis.deviantart.com/art/Criss-Redux-157514596

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

The tails are too smaaaalll.

anyway I'm not a fan of the crazy sword slashy final fantasy-esque stuff in the blaze picture, but the colouring is good, you have a good sense of shade and I like the little details like folds in clothing and the sword handle... hilt... whatever.

as for picture number two, I love the fashion, the face is pretty good, the ears have great shape to them, and that hat is awesome. Again, good colouring.

Nice one.

[Harlequin_Felis]

I was kinda worried that the shades were all going to be too samey... I only have about 20 markers in total at the moment (new job doesn't give me money for another two months ¬¬) and those things are surprisingly pricey...

Ah, tails... my Achilles Heel...Well, those and actual heels... and hands.... and perspective...

I'm going to stop here, it depresses me

I do tend to forget the tails until everything else is finished... Hence why they tend to look like teeny tiny afterthoughts.

I've got one pic I'm trying to do from a top-down perspective right now, and after that, I think I'll have to take a break for a week or two. It starts feeling kinda like a chore if I keep pushing myself on, and the last thing I want to do is make this another one of those things I start, and never finish because I got frustrated.

Thanks for the critique, guys - especially AsiaBunny - it's really helping point me in the right direction

[KittKat chunky~]

I love the colouring in your sketches 

And hands + perspective, as well as tails i guess... will all get better and easier with time and practice, so long as your enjoying your drawing then its all great! 

[White Wolf Guardian]

I love the Blaze picture, pretty good in my opinion, tail looks good to me