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.