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Do you mean like if I were drawing someone standing in front of me to keep my eyes on them while I sketched instead of looking at my paper?

Because if so, I know about that technique...but I forgot about it. Thanks for reminding me! I'll try to be more careful of that next time.

My Little Llama WIP: Because I'm bored and they are cute and fun to draw. I'm not sure how I'll color it 0_o

Holy s**t, this is the best thing ever! Thanks! I do admit I have some issues with anatomy, particularly anatomy on the tablet so all that stuff you just showed me is really helpful. I usually draw on paper and don't really do all that prep work because it shows, so I've learned to kind of just do it all in one shot.

The elf was actually me trying to re-draw something I drew on paper and kind of....failed...but you can see the pose I was going for. Its a little more natural looking if you ask me...and her proportions look better. She is kind of angular and boxy, but that was intentional.

Here is the original:

I'm not exactly jumping right into my tablet. I've been doing the draw-scan-color method for a couple years, I'd just kind of stopped drawing all together for a little bit so it's been a long while since I'd been drawing, let alone touching a tablet. Anyway, around I picked it back up lately and kind of migrated back towards my tablet, only this time I don't have a working scanner. I can take pictures with my phone, but they're crummy quality and usually have a big giant shadow right above them from my hand.

So anyway, my point is that I am trying to make a full transition to my tablet, but its been a long time coming, not just from over excitement 3nodding

I will however, try and see how drawing it trad. and then lining it digitally will work out. That will be interesting.

You know the really funny thing though?
I can copy a face or pose anatomically correct if its from a referance, but the second I try to add different elements it goes all wonky. Like, the elf for example: I posed in the mirror to figure out how she was standing in the middle, but even so she's still a little wonky. If I'd drawn me posing in front of a mirror, everything would have been fine, but since I wanted an elf with an axe.....

Anyway, I really just draw for fun, so its nice to see that I'm progressing even if its really slow. But don't take that to mean I'm not hungrily gulping down ever bit of advice you give me. Keep it coming! I'll definitely implement it next time I sit down at my desk!

Hi hi! Sorry it's taken me awhile to post here again ^^;

The sorcerer pic is cool - the pose and idea are really dramatic and I like the details on the end of her staff biggrin

There are a few things I'd like to point out though that will hopefully help you out anatomy wise wink

1) The Neck. The neck is a column that is generally straight (unless you are actually tilting it etc) and only really curves once it hits that muscle that leads into your shoulders. Her neck on her right side curves dramatically outwards when it should actually be more like the line of her neck on her left side.

2) The Head. Foreshortening is a tricky beast and I personally am horrible at doing extreme angles so instead I shall provide some handy youtube links that show you how to construct the head and deal with it at those pesky angles! Part 1 and Part 2 (part 2 is the one that deals with the head tilting up similar to what you were going for).

3) Hands. I actually have a mirror on my desk that I use to look at my hands etc when drawing so I can get an idea on how to draw things - after all they are attached and making a reference is as simple as picking something up and observing what the hand is doing in that pose. That being said in the Resources section I found the following in some of the Hand References that are similar to the pose of her grasping her staff.
Reference 1
Reference 2 (2nd from the top on the right, flipped around would be close to your pose, just need to change the angle)

The following is a reference for the hand up in the air. Namely the hand that's on the right in the 2nd row, you just have to rotate it around and I think it would be exactly what that hand would be doing.
Reference

4) Pose. I have to admit I'm unsure of how her body is turned in this picture. Originally I thought her upper torso was facing straight forward and that her hips were turned so that her left hip was higher. That felt a bit awkward and I think it might have worked a bit better and smoother if her torso was turned more to her right. BUT if you were adamant it was to be a frontal shot or something I can try to do up another sketch.


5) Clothing. Just a few tips to remember - unless she has an asymmetrical jacket (which she very well could have) both sides of the jacket should be the same length, even if one side is blowing away in the wind.
With the collar it's a good idea to remember they are there to wrap around the neck - as such they are generally made close to and mimic the shape of the base of the neck.

And there was one more thing that confused me about what way her torso was facing - the sleeve of the arm holding her staff. It's drawn in a way that indicates it's actually more forward than her torso. In which case it feels like she's really twisted around - her torso facing her raised arm while her hips are facing her staff - which is not a very comfortable pose to be in especially with the raised hip too.

But yes - just some things I wanted to point out. I understand this was something you drew a few months back but as always I think it's a good idea to take a step back and think about what you want the body to be doing and then sketch it out, perhaps even adopt the pose and see how comfortable and natural it feels.

Keep up the good work though and good job with the attention to details with the wood of her staff and the pattern on the belt biggrin I actually really do like how you've done the legs with the hip cocked like that - has a good strong attitude to it ^-^