How NOT To Draw: Sacks Of Goo - Part 1

In this issue, we have a couple fun ones. I don't know their ages, but they draw like they're twelve or younger, for the most part. When posting art on this site, it's important that you do some studying on basics, as I've mentioned countless times. You must learn about basic shapes, proportions, foreshortening, perspective - lots of things - or your figures will end up looking like sacks of goo.

Here's our first artist: HouseOfFrancis

Now I'm not sure how old he is, like I said. He does, however, seem to not know how to draw properly or use the tools in MSPaint to their full potential. He also doesn't seem to know how to give his drawings structure.

houseoffrancis.deviantart.com/…

In this one, for example, the wolf(or whatever it is) seems to have no skull, or a very soft one, as his spiky hair seems to cut into it. Even those who do heavily stylized art like cartoons with big noses will be mindful of structure, proportions and perspective. They use a sort of 'skeleton' to give the characters their shapes.

Note the overuse of the straight line tool from MSPaint. It makes the background look really flat and uninteresting, and it would be better to draw some imperfect lines with the mouse instead of perfect straight lines with the line tool. The wolf's arms seem to be just pinned onto him, rather than connected to shoulders and a collarbone. His legs look really uneven, and his ears look like they're growing out of his hat rather than being attached to his skull.

Also, the artist seemed to have used some pixel art he found, as the lamp in the background looks a little too perfect. About the only part of the picture I like is the grass, as it has some nice effect of a texture rather than a flat pattern. MSPaint art does not need to look this bad - there are people who have made beautiful pictures using just that simple program, and you can check them out on Youtube.

houseoffrancis.deviantart.com/…

This one shows abuse of the line and rectangle tools, but also more lack of structure. The two characters seem to be dressed up like cats, and the heads may just be masks; that would be forgivable except for the eyes. If they're attached to the masks, then they shouldn't look like they're moving. Also, even with costumes and masks, one should give the bodies, limbs and skulls better structure. The heads look too big, and the arms are different lengths; the purple cat's left arm is longer than her right, and her right thigh looks too skinny near the pelvis. The arms on both cats look like they're pinned on rather than parts of their bodies, and their tails look like they're coming out of their legs. Even with costumes, the tail should be pinned to the back of the pants or the shirt, and would probably be a lot more limp than what the pictures show.

It would have looked better if he had drawn the basic shapes first, rather than drawing the characters' silhouettes and then coloured them in.

houseoffrancis.deviantart.com/…

In this one, we see more abuse of the line tool, and no real depth. Fred Flintstone's left leg looks much skinnier than his right, and isn't foreshortened properly, and his left arm looks longer than his right arm. Norman's right arm is longer than his left, and it looks like no real attempt was made at giving them even basic skeletons. Fred's legs also seem to be too far apart. The stripe pattern on Norman's vest does nothing for the picture and looks rather ugly.

houseoffrancis.deviantart.com/…

Here's another example of bad proportions - note how Petunia's left arm is longer than her right, and how both characters look like half-deflated balloons. Even unshaded cartoons don't have to look that way; proper structure and proportioning can make a ton of difference between a sack of goo and a believable cartoon.

houseoffrancis.deviantart.com/…

And in our final pic for HouseOfFrancis, we see more misuse of the MSPaint shape tools, water balloon arms and a poorly-done background. What makes it worse is the grass looks like a bunch of jagged lines, rather than proper cartoon grass. Plus, Bubbles looks like she's going to drop her basket. Think of the eggs, people! Think of the eggs!

Now for SonicClone

His art is a little better than HouseOfFrancis' drawings, but just a little. SonicClone's figures still show lack of structure, and often look squashed, sorta like half-stuffed beanie babies(remember those?). He also seems to mix crayons or colour pencils with markers, and the result is very poor.

Here's are first example: sonicclone.deviantart.com/art/…

The colouring is abysmal; when colouring with markers, often it's best to not fill in all the white with a thick, solid colour. It makes the ink run out really fast, and it can ruin the contrast. The background is way too dark and bright, and can be painful to the eyes. The strokes are also messy - when colouring with markers, especially large areas, the strokes should all be done in the same direction, as otherwise it will look messy. There's no surface for them to stand on either, and a picture like that with everyone in an action pose needs a surface. It looks like they're falling or something.

Now for the proportions and stuff. Ralph looks like his arms are attached to the middle of his chest, rather than his shoulders. His left arm looks too long, and his entire left side is skinnier than his right side, when he's facing forward. His hands and fingers look okay, but the proportions of his toes are off. Vanellope's right leg looks too long, and it seems to be broken. Calhoun's proportions look a little better than those of the rest, but she looks kinda knock-kneed, and her left hand's position looks rather painful. Felix's left arm also looks longer than his right arm, and it may be due to the artist not knowing proper foreshortening(even for me, that can be quite difficult, but I'm still working on that). The skin looks like it was coloured with crayon or a marker that's drying out; there are ways to fix that and I think you can find some tutorials for fixing drying markers online, free.

sonicclone.deviantart.com/art/…

In this one, the colouring is very bad - lots of light scribbles all over the place. Bowser's proportions look better than the humanoid 'Koopa's, but his right arm looks shorter than his left. His mouth also looks too saggy, as if he has no jaw. Koopa's elbows are too high up, and his arms look kind of stiff, while his left leg is longer and skinnier than his right leg.

sonicclone.deviantart.com/art/…

The character in the foreground seems to have no bones in his legs, and his left looks skinnier and more deflated than his right. The colouring is decent, and I love the background, but the proportions look horrible. The foreground man's left arm seems to be longer than his right, and the way the arms are bent makes no sense.

sonicclone.deviantart.com/art/…

In this picture, Barney the dinosaur looks like a badly-made plushie. His right wrist is bent painfully, while he doesn't seem to have elbows. It looks like the artist tried foreshortening but failed epically, especially with the legs and feet; the left leg looks shorter than the right, but it doesn't seem to be further away or bent at all, and the right foot looks like it's taking up half the leg. Another thing I don't like is the thick, solid colouring; there should be variation to allow for shading and highlights.

sonicclone.deviantart.com/art/…

In this piece, Batman's limb proportions are very off; his left leg looks skinnier and longer than his right, and it shouldn't. The left arm looks like it would be longer than the right arm, what with the foreshortening and the angle at which Batman is shown. The joints are very inconsistent, especially the elbows, and the way Robin's right hand is bent looks painful and unnatural.

sonicclone.deviantart.com/art/…

This one looks quite ugly; limb proportions are way off, the hands look like floppy, half-filled rubber gloves, and while some parts are coloured in(with blocky solid marker, no less, other parts of the room are just outlines. The picture looks unfinished, and the floor looks like it's a trampoline because the tiles' angles on the left and right of the floor are so inconsistent. Very bad quality picture, and should definitely go into the scrap section.

sonicclone.deviantart.com/art/…

Big butt fetish aside, this one looks quite ugly as well; the arms look like the are dislocated at the elbow. The legs on the other hand look as if they're fused at the crotch, when they should be attached at the sides of the pelvis. In the figure on the left, the right arm is shorter, and seems to have no elbow - again it looks like a half-inflated waterballoon.

sonicclone.deviantart.com/art/…

This one is just plain wrong. Arms do not bend that way when carrying things - it would be very ow. Also note lack of structure in the thorax, where there should be some indication of a rib cage. Left leg and foot look broken, and the colouring - just horrible. Honestly, the mix of crayon scribbles and markers just doesn't do anything forthis one.

AAAAND A Challenger Appears! This just in from Mina-Fox

KBAFourthtime

His art is a little better than the first two, but still he needs to learn about proportions, anatomy and other principles of drawing.

kbafourthtime.deviantart.com/a…

The background doesn't quite go with the foreground, but that's another story. The character's elbows look too high-up, and his arms too short. Also, the tail should not hang like that - it should go down more because an animal's tail is part of the spinal column.

kbafourthtime.deviantart.com/a…

In this picture, the head looks squished, and the right leg looks too short. The tail looks like it should go a little higher up, so the character can go to the bathroom more comfortably.

kbafourthtime.deviantart.com/a…

Background is quite ugly, with clashing patterns for the floor and wall. I do like the shadow, but the right arm's position looks painful and not quite possible. Left arm's position is not quite right.

kbafourthtime.deviantart.com/a…

In this one, the proportions are a lot better, but the tail looks like it's sticking out of the leg, or maybe even broken. Broken tailbones are not fun and can cause some mild issues with nerves which control the urinary and excretory system. Plus, it is theorized that lizards may have a 'saccral brain' in their tails, and dislocating the tail like that could cause some other problems, especially if the spinal cord is severed. Meh. I'm getting too technical.

kbafourthtime.deviantart.com/a…

The background is hideous and very lazy. Those experienced with using Photoshop know not to use plasma renderings as backgrounds unless they do it carefully and use it in a way that it isn't obvious. But anyways, the proportions: I had to do a double-take because it looked a lot like this: kbafourthtime.deviantart.com/a… but there are some subtle differences with tail, limb and hand position. Left arm and hand both look like they hurt a lot, as does the right arm. I would seriously recommend the artist use some photo-refs, as well as looking at some tutorials on the basic shapes and lines of a cartoon body's skeleton, as well as foreshortening and perspective. Another thing I suggest is that KBA learn to paint his own patterns, rather than using the ones found in whatever paint programs he uses. Colour theory is also a must, because learning about what colours to use together is another very important thing to consider when doing art.


Now for this issue's 'Critique Me' : Urvy1A

His art needs improvement, and he welcomes critiques. Urvy1A is very eager to learn some new techniques, and you guys can help him out! Go to his page and look for his gallery(it's below the one with the photographs - can be easy to miss due to the page's layout). He needs help with anatomy and perspective, drawing hands and fingers, and with colouring and shading. I think he often uses either markers or crayons, and some tips on how to use them properly would be a very big help.

One thing I would recommend for Urvy would be to draw what he sees and use the right side of his brain, rather than drawing what the left hemisphere remembers. It will take practice, but I think he'll get the hang of it.


Anyway, I'd like to thank HCShannon and Mina-Fox for their contributions and help. You, the readers, can help out as well by commenting or noting me about some artists who need help, and by critiquing those mentioned in my news articles. Maybe even write some of your own. Help needy artists - one critique at a time.