Well, here is essentially what's been going down, I have been drawing, allot, profusely even, pushing myself to draw something every single day, if even not a completed picture but only a doodle or something, just something familiar to keep my fingers working right?

Then I went to an old friend of mine, as opposed to someone online for a change... He doesn't draw himself, but he understands a fair deal about learning in itself, so I figured, hell what harm could come of it? Well... Basically here's how it went...

I drew a picture for him, nice enough female figure, nothing fancy, some cloths and a couple of crappy hand shots. (I've been avoiding them, hush. >>" )

Well after I was done he picked it up, examined it and then put it back down on the table next to me, off to the side a bit. Then he put another piece of paper down infront of me and taped it down, telling me to draw it again... I figured, okay I'll do that...

Well the drawing turned out to be absolute crap, it was rather pathetic and embarrassing, then he stated the obvious. "You learned how to draw Vertical lines, and that's it." Well, even though I had realized this part way through the second drawing, him saying it basically made it undeniable... Then he went on to tell me that I'm doing neat hen scratches rather then extended nice smooth lines. Which he said was fine, but it didn't teach me anything of control, it was just a trick that I used to get over learning the basics.

He told me to lay off drawing anime and manga characters for a while, and to learn the basics, telling me to learn how to draw Horizontal, diagonal and vertical lines properly, then move on to circles, triangles, five pointed stars and spirals, then I had to learn how to draw squares out of nothing but horizontal, vertical, or diagonal lines... Note; that is learn how to draw squares out of ONE of those... And learn how to draw squares with each one... Because it would teach me more about spacing and planning out a drawing you can't see, much like the five pointed stars and the spirals I guess.

He said after I had mastered those, I should move on to creating blocks, spheres, and egg shapes then learning how to shade and shadow each and every one of them perfectly. . .

Basically, he's right, to a great extent... It saddens me to know that I've wasted a great deal of time developing tricks without a firm foundation to work from first. He also told me that I shouldn't draw manga or anime characters, and that cartooning in general is bad for learning how to draw draw, so when I go to see him again for continued learning substance beyond these basics, he says he's going to have me drawing real objects and people, as opposed to cartoon ones. Because learning how to draw a real person is much more complex then a cartoon, and making a cartoon was as simple as turning the intricate lines of a still life into a simplified version. Either Japanese or North American.


I've already began to go down this learning course, though if anyone happens to read this, let me know if you agree, disagree or think I'm crazy to follow his instruction, or think something else but agree kinda, or kinda. . . Just comment, please you're input is greatly appreciated.