Day 1
I was just “tracing” this on another layer.
Edit: on the original image she had peaches on her head but I choose tomato slices 哈哈哈哈
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Hi, welcome!
I think your pen control is pretty good, are you sure you just started out? 
I have a word of warning though! Based on the words of a professional animator, Hide-san, tracing is unfortunately not a great way to gain drawing skill. Many young animators who previously worked on cleanups that involved tracing, hit a roadblock after a few years and quit, being unable to properly draw on their own, even if their lines are beautiful.
Check this video out - ついやりがち！無意味な練習方法と○○をおススメする理由#描き方講座 - YouTube
Instead focus on copying the pictures side by side, starting from basic forms and gradually refining the structure. This way you will make progress.
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Day 2 of me trying to draw (the one in the left it’s obviously not mine hhh)
I tried to draw without tracing, you can clearly see it’s awful lol
I did the shapes sketch tracing and then move the layer because if not it would be even worse hhhh. I drew for like an hour.
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Btw thank you for your answer. I already saved the video you sent me to watch tomorrow! If you have any recommendations I’m thankful to know them! 
I recommend learning from YouTube! I posted some great links here: What do I have to do to start practicing digital art? - #8 by YRH This thread also has a lot of other useful comments from other users. I recommend Hide channel in particular to learn how to draw a body in various poses. He has lesson videos as well as a ton of live streams.
In general, I’m a bit wary of giving out advice as what works for one person might not be good for another one. For beginners like me and you it’s best to just keep drawing! So draw what you enjoy and copy from artists and artwork that you like. If you prefer chibi/cute characters, try to find references like that and draw from them (avoid tracing as much as possible though!).
As for side by side copy, yes, it’s normal it will not look good the first time. It won’t look good even the 20’th time But you will improve gradually and you will see that when you look back to your pictures from a few weeks or months ago.
I also wanted to share these insights observing professional anime artists:
- A professional animator with years of experience may still make some small mistakes when drawing a character. In other words, making mistakes is normal and expected. It’s important that you can spot them and know how to fix! But that will come naturally with experience.
- You can have an illustration with wobbly and sloppy lines and it will still look amazing when colored. As long as the general shapes are well balanced, color choice is good, etc. it will hold up. This means the overall impression and composition is always more important than any fine details.
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Day 3 of me trying to draw. I only drew for like 40 minutes. I tried to apply the idea of a “movement/flow” line and then try to make a super basic croquis. I think it sucks but could be worse lmao
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Just keep at it Forget the eyes and the mouth, think about big shapes first. It’s OK to draw over the model to get a feel for it, but be sure to then try side by side later. This is MUCH more difficult, so don’t get discouraged, just try to do it and see where you were too far off.
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Day 5. I tag you because is from the videos you sent me. I’m laughing so “not profanity word” hard rn @YRH
I mean it could be worse hhhh I drew for like almost an hour 
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Day 6. I actually lost like 40 minutes trying to keep working on the sketch from yesterday but it end up being just awful and almost no improvement. So I tried to do a Sketch on 20 minutes from a cute character from a game that I never played lol.
tbh idk what should I do… If I have enough time tomorrow I’ll try to make a sketch of Zhao Lusi, but probably that… Just trying to improve my perception of perspective and proportion.
Even tho it’s just a basic sketch/doodle. I did it on side/side not tracing so idk it could be worse…
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Day 7, Today it was my brother’s birthday so I didn’t have any time to draw. I did this not profanity word in like 5-10 minutes (a lot I know, But I’m kinda useless in this hhhh)
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Day 8 I sketched for like 10 minutes, busy day. It’s idk.
remember I don’t draw, I mean it’s really clear lol
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Day 9 lmao I just tried to sketch for like maybe 18 minutes. I laugh so hard to my “drawings”
I’m awful but it’s fun to watch how bad it looks 哈哈哈哈哈哈
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You’re doing great! Keep going.
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Good start!
This is my favorite tutorial that I tell beginners about…
http://www.polykarbon.com/tutorials/body/stick.htm
Notice the proportions! I hope you follow the whole tutorial 
This is the rest of the site:
http://www.polykarbon.com/tutorials/
It is geared towards anime style but the principles can be used for realistic drawings too.
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i think you have to think more in 3d instead of outline/flat planes
i recommand you to watch some of tenten’s studies
https://www.artstation.com/shitong
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Ah, an excellent recommendation, Mako! Thanks.
Yeah, I think the problem is that a lot of good advice is not really actionable when you’re still a beginner. I find myself “rediscovering” the advice I already heard, or the videos I watched and it only now starts to make a bit more sense. Observe > Draw > Correct your mistakes, that’s the vicious cycle, but the only one to improvement.
Also what gets me really are the drops in consistency. This can really erode one’s sense of security! I have days or attempts that seem to work great start to finish, and then the ones where I seem to struggle with every line. So take heart, @SoullessMusic! Keep at it and understand that you’re on a journey, even if the improvement is not evident yet (especially in your own eyes).
BTW – I ran across this video yesterday. One of “my art progress” videos. I think the person here is still young, but just observe the explosive growth they had in this year, 2023! Really inspiring.
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Day 10 I drew for like 25 minutes. Today I had like 8 hours of classes. It’s already 23:50 here in Argentina, I just drew because I want to draw at least a few minutes everyday… I didn’t have enough time to watch the last video but thanks. I’ll try to watch it tomorrow! Thanks! @Mako_Matt and @YRH
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Day 11. I drew for like 45 minutes. It’s not a lot, I trid to do some sketches of bodies but decided to finally do some lines to “relax” So I did some lines patterns, circles, then idk why I drew an eye, some weird “hair” in red lol.
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Day 12. I tried to sketch a person lmao. I drew for like 28 minutes aprox. I didn’t have enough time to watch the videos yet… I’ve seen some of the first videos and are great but even then I don’t know how to approach drawing. At least I laugh at the end when I see the “drawings” it’s worse than seen a car crash lmao but less funny(?
PS: When I mirrored the canvas I laughed so hard 哈哈哈哈😄
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