Finally Got Some Sketches Uploaded

    I've been trying to incorporate foreshortening into my character sketches. It took a while but I finally made one of Spiral that I like:

 

Noticeably her arms protrude into the foreground and background. The face turned out really well. To explain my process...

    I start with a perfect circle then extend it out into an egg shape. From there I draw a stick figure of the pose. This is a very important step as it captures not only the flow of the drawing but the proportions as well. You want to get everything right on this step. I often plan this out but find it looks awkward then start over but use the first sketch as reference to get the next one right. You can see how I planned Spiral out below.

    Draw a strong pose. Action poses are hard but worth it. Make it interesting. Have in mind what they're doing. Don't just draw them standing there.

     Here's the stick figure skeleton. Next I flesh out the body and sketch the face. Breasts are an upside down heart btw. Faces are the hardest part so I like to get them out of the way early. The head is five eyes wide with an eye long hole between the actual eyes. Just draw ovals; you can tweak the shape once the pieces are properly in place. Then I draw an equilateral triangle (all sides the same length) from the outside corners of the eyes down- this is where the mouth goes at the end. A third of the way up from the mouth to the eyes marks where the nose is. If the face is looking directly forward, the nose is pointed up slightly and you can see the nostrils. I tend to draw them and a curved line going up to the eyebrows. Finally I add lips if it's a woman, extend the outer corners of the eyes out like eyeliner, and draw the eyebrows above them. Get a good expression in there.

    Then comes the hands, which are the second hardest part. Practice makes perfect. With the head done and figure sketched around the stick skeleton, I add clothes. Erase the guide lines as needed. Flowing garments like dresses, trench coats and capes are always fun to draw. Add the outer garments first then the inner ones between them. Around this time is when I add extra extremities like swords and tails if the character is lucky enough to have them. And last the hair and detailed patterns. Hair is much easier if you look up a picture of the haircut you want as a reference. 

    That's that. I'll look it over, scan it in, do a little clean up on photoshop and upload it.