Style challenge

Today I drew myself in 9 different cartoon styles. These are all my favourite styles, characters or stories which have influenced my childhood and my drawing style. Let's see if you can recognize them ;)

The one in the center is my own style

So here's the solution and some information about the styles:

Center: my own style
I prefered to draw myself in a more realistic way as in my usual illustrations.

Center, right side: Shoujo
This is a style often used for romantic manga. Eventhough everything is exaggerated a little, I tried to keep my facial features visible.

Center, left side: Studio Ghibli / Hayao Miyazaki
I had to include this style because I absolutely love his movies. Eventhough it was a challenge to draw my long, straight hair because I had no reference for this. So it turned out a little strange. 
I really like to see myself as a Studio Ghibli character because I feel like I could belong in one fantastic movie of theirs now.
reference used: Mononoke (Princess Mononoke), Kiki (Kiki's delivery service), Sophie (Howl's moving castle)

Bottom, right side: Gravity Falls
Gravity Falls is my favourite cartoon, so I had lots of fun drawing myself as one of these characters. I really like how it turned out, besides the eyes which are not close together enough.
reference used: Wendy

Bottom, center: Tim Burton
I really love Tim Burton's movies, especially his style. To recreate it, I used grey and black colour pencils over my Copics. This is one of my favourites :)
reference used: Victoria (Corpse Bride)

Bottom, left side: The adventures of Tintin / Hergé
I absolutely love this cartoon, so I tried to keep the style as close as possible. I used drawing ink instead of multiliner, which was really a challenge. Also I had no reference for a young female character.
reference: Tintin

Top, right side: Asterix / Albert Uderzo
Since my father has collected the cartoons of Asterix in his youth, I grew up with them. And I still love them. This version of myself is my absolute favourite. I also used drawing ink for this one.
reference: Panacea

Top, center: Disney
As any child, I also grew up with Disney. But I like the old movies more, so I wanded to draw me as a princess like Cinderella, Snow White or Aurora. To archieve the former look, I outlined with similar colours as I coloured. I really like this version, but I should have used a lighter blue for outlining the shirt.
reference: Aurora (Sleeping beauty), Cinderella (Cinderella)

Top, left side: Spirou & Fantasio / Franquin
I love their adventures. Actually, I wanted to draw a character of Gaston, another comic by Franquin which I like more. But since it's both Franquin, it doesn't matter.
reference: Stephanie

Let me know which one is your favourite and what I could have done better in your opinion :)

How to draw eyes

There are several ways to draw eyes, but today I show you some eyeshapes I draw often.
Some people start by drawing the pupil, whereas I prefere to start with the upper eyelid, but that doesn't make much difference.
Basically, I start with a straight or slightly curved line for the upper eyelid. 

You can draw a line to connect the upper and the under eyelid.

Then I draw a curved line for the under eyelid and then the details (brow, eyelashes, circle for the iris etc.). Just try what is comfortable for you.

 If there is something wrong about one eye, you mostly will recognize after drawing in the pupil, so I normally do this step last. For example, the upper eyelid of the left eye curves more upwards than the other. But this is just a little difference, so I won't correct this.

Here are some eyeshapes I have drawn for several of my characters:

As you can see, an eye has following parts which you can draw very different: upper eyelid, under eyelid, eyelashes, crease, eyebrow, iris, pupil. 
Mostly, male characters don't have eyelashes because it makes them appear more female, but there are also mangaka who create female characters without lashes as well to give them a tough look. Also rounder, bigger eyes are often used for young or naive, childish characters who appear very cute.
Because there are so many ways to draw an eye different, I can't show you a tutorial. But that's the fun part: you have to experiment and create new shapes on your own.
There are only three rules to draw eyes:

1: Eyes don't have to be even, because in nature nothing is exact the same. Just make sure that they look alike.
2: Between the two eyes is the space of normally one eye.
3: Manga eyes don't have to look realistic. Just be creative and draw the perfect eyes for your character!

Draw this again: Redrawing my first manga drawing

I watched many artists redrawing their old artwork to see their progress lately, so I wanted to do this, too. I started drawing manga two years ago, so I picked my very first manga drawing for this challenge.

I tried to draw this after my mom found an old magazine which featured a manga drawing course for children. Of course these drawings were very simple but I managed to draw a magician (yes, his hair is based on Fairy Tail's Midnight):

Few months later I buyed the 'Manga master class' by Mark Crilley and started to learn how to draw better. Still a very cartoony style, but I improved very fast. As I realized, my style became more realistic after practicing and practicing. Now I learn more things about drawing manga with the 'How to draw manga' series of Carlsen Manga! which I highly recommend to you if you want to learn drawing manga as well.

So this is my redrawn picture:

I used Copic markers instead of coloured pencils, but I also included my original medium. I also changed the pose and the outfit a little, so it doesn't look so empty and cartoony. I also have improved at making pictures feel dark and threatening while looking beautiful and attractive.

If you compare these two pictures, you can clearly see that two years of drawing make pretty much difference.

First of all, I draw more realistic eyes and face shapes in general, eventhough it's still hard for me to draw ears.

I know, I can't draw hands. Not at all. Surprisingly the hands on the old drawing look more like hands than the others... And somehow the left lace has managed to overcome gravity? But still, it looks way better than before.

I really loved to do this challenge just because you really recognize how you improved and that you'll always become better by time. This is what I want to tell you: don't give up and always try to draw or do something new. I also started by admiring drawings of others who really could draw. I used to think by myself: "I wish I could draw like this.". And you know what? I grabbed a pen and a paper and I drew. And now I can draw like that and in a few years I can draw even better. 

Guys, don't be afraid of drawing just because you can't draw something correctly. If I'd give up just because I can't draw hands properly, I'll never manage to draw them better.

Bleeding Heart illustrations

Today I finally finished the cover for my comic 'Bleeding Heart' and I'd like to show you two of my masterpieces so far :)

The first one shows the three main characters of the comic: Victoria and Lamia, who we know already, and the mysterious Lucien Oddwood, who we'll meet soon. There will be more illustrations of the most important characters someday ;). This picture is coloured with Copic markers, unlukily you can't see the light shades of Lamia's and Lucien's skin in the digital version.

And the second one is the cover. Here I used Copic markers and coloured pencils to colour. Also in this digital picture, you can't see the light skin colours. I hope this picture makes you curious about the story while also not telling too much. I first tried to draw an upside down head but thanks to a book which shows how to draw these things it turned out very well.

My art progress in school

Nobody can draw from the very beginning and most people think that talent or gift matters the most in terms of art and drawing. And eventhough it is a part of it, you must actually learn and practice how to draw. Not only how to use different tools or drawing in different techniques, but also how to draw realisticly. This costs much effort and mostly the talent to observe (which you may train as well).

5th grade (1st year in Gym, I was 10-11years old): 
art teacher 1: cool and funny guy with lots of good ideas
My art in school is an amusing proof, because I had lots of fun drawing things and I also had good ideas, but I just drew like in kindergarden, even when I was 11/12 years old. Lukily I had a nice and funny arts teacher with lots of funny themes to draw. He was more like a mentor for me and my classmates because he cared more about the willing to draw as about the quality of the drawings.

prehistoric cave painting (watercolour + charcoal)

wierd scientists discover new plant (watercolour)

galaxy (watercolour)

6th grade (2nd year in Gym, I was 11-12):
art teacher 1
So he always tried to motivate us to learn how to draw accuratley to bring our ideas on paper. We had few people in class that could draw very good and many who weren't interested in art at all and put no efford in it, but I was the only one of his students who was interested in arts, who understands arts and the meaning of it but who couldn't draw at all. 

my dream house in parallel perspective (pencil)

greek temple in parallel perspective (pencil)

7th grade (I was 12-13 years old):
art teacher 2: crazy woman with no idea of style and classic art
So at the end of the second year in Gymnasium I buyed a hiliarous videogame which claimes to teach arts to practice. And it worked. I learnt to draw trees, statues, landscapes and animals with differend (virtual) tools. Suprisingly, it worked in real life as well, as I realized in the third year. The technique to copy subjects with a grid I learnt virtually saved me as she wanted us to enlarge a picture of a comic with the same technique. I realized that I can copy things very good and that this was the first thing I learnt about drawing. (means: if you want to learn drawing, start by copying things like buildings, statues or actual drawn pictures.)

repainting of trees (candle wax + ink)

enlaging a comic panel (pencil + coloured pencils)

8th grade (I was 13-14 years old):
art teacher 3: gentle, older man who cared much about techniques
In this year I learnt much about shading with one pencil and about shade and light on objects. He also lost a very good picture of mine I put lots and lots of effort in. Drew about two hundred seperate 0,4cm long leaves of grass. But that was pretty much the only thing we did. But back then I started to learn how to draw manga.

practicing shading with only one pencil

9th + 10th grade (I was 14-16 years old):
art teacher 1 (lukily, bc he's my favourite)
So, after he didn't met me for two years, he was pretty much suprised that I could draw so good. An I became his no. 1 example of how to draw things (see the 'no. 1 example' mark on the pictures below). And all the others admired my arts, even this special girl who was his no. 1 example in 5th and 6th grade and who I admired the most for her drawing skills. Now this teacher is proud that I chose a extracurricular arts course of his for next year to improve my arts. Which means I have to do my Abitur (final exam at the end of school) in arts as well.

my own fashion boutique poster (watercolours)

drawing classmates (+teacher) (pencil) no. 1 example

drawing sketch for unique painting (pencil)

engraving a picture which ris sceary (woodcut) no. 1 example

fusion of human and animal: spiderwoman (charcoal)

 I hope this was a little bit interesting and motivating ;)
Remember that art consists of practice, a bit talent, knowledge, observing, good ideas and fun!

A comic: Bleeding Heart

In Germany, we've summer holidays now. So this first week I spent drawing a comic/manga. I'd really like to show it here and maybe continue drawing it every holidays. I'll be visiting a part of my family in Hungary next week, so I won't be able to work on it then. And because I'll be really busy studying (the next are my two last years in school) and one page takes 4-5 hours to complete, I'm not sure if I will be able to work on it on normal holidays which dure only 1-2 weeks, but we'll see.
So, let's tell you about the story, finally. It takes place in a world where not only humans, but also vampires and ghosts etc. live. The plot bases on the fact, that every creature has a soul that can be classified into "bad" and "good" souls, which is total nonsense because there are also beings that are in between. Ok, I think the rest will be clear through reading the story.
(Beforehand, I apologize for my lazyness not doing much background, not being careful and ink wrong lines, not caring about the length or flow of hair... and any mistake in language)
Just a warning: people in this world speak very different. Should be a slang or so, but I made it up myself, so sometimes when they talk about themself in past, they might leave out the 'I' and so on. I hope you'll still understand. If not, please tell me, so I can stop doing that the next times.

I hope, you enjoy :). I was drawing a picture of all three protagonists before (and it turned out to be my best manga illustration so far), so I'll be posting that when it's coloured ;)

Illustrating my book "Sylphae"

In my series "Floating" the fairytale named "Sylphae" is just a little part, but a magical one. The books are in progress, I'm still writing and writing while hoping they'll be finished some time. Nevertheless I love drawing the main characters of my stories (I'm hoping these books will become a movie in the future)
Today, I want to tell you something about the recent picture I've drawn. If you're not interested in the story, you can also skip this part.

This is the princess of the Sylphaej kingdom. The beutiful and wise Yianfàl, main character of the fairytale. As the heritage of the crown, she has to be tested if she deserved the power of ruling the kingdom. Only if she is able to succeed in the legendary seven tasks, she will be crowned. But she's not the only heritage: Yianfàl has to compete against her older brother, Hemjèn, and her younger brother, Luyánjèn. Eventhough she's wise, tough and kind, it is difficult for her to go on a journey through the whole kingdom alone.
She loves to be in the garden and draw or sing lovely tunes, but she also thinks about a lot of things. Sometimes she's very cheerful and sometimes she seems to load all the problems of the kingdom on her own shoulders.

So, to tell you about the drawing. I drew lots of roses to resembel her love for all living things and her beauty, but also her toughness. There are also many pearls which show the royalty and also the style of the Sylphae, which love to dress in jewels and flowers. In her hands, which are not too bad but still a little wrong, she holds a traditional, long Sylphaej pipe. If you wonder why she has horns and wierd ears: that's the typical sign of a Sylphae. Depending on the sign of their Zodiac, they have different horns, e.g. of a aries, taurus or antelope. The ears are all long and sharp, but they can either be 'hanging vertical' (if that makes sence) or pointing upwards.
This time, I did not use a black multiliner, instead I used a sepia one to soften the picture and the atmosphere.
As always, you can download the picture ->HERE for free, if you want to colour it. Therefore, I simply ask you to respect my artwork and not to publish it under your name. (Sorry for the unnatural looking roses and for the awkward hands, I'm still learning and practicing.)

Pimp your bag (easy)

Today I'll be showing you an easy way to pimp any bag you want.

You need:

• Bag which is made of fabric
• Safety pins
• any pearls you like
• any other thing you like. I took roses and crosses

1. Thread the pearls on the pins.

2. Pin the first and the last pin on the bag. Make sure not to make too many holes in the fabric. If the bag has two layers of fabric, just pin the pins in the first layer as shown in the pictures below.

3. Make chains by hooking the pins together. That's it!

I'd suggest to pimp a bag where you can actually see the chains... But with this technique you can switch the chains whenever you want :)