» Sat Nov 29, 2008 11:26 pm
Heres a tip. when you draw in pencil try using another piece of paper just to rest your palm on, it will minimize the smudging. Also ALWAYS keep your pencil as sharp as possible. One more thing, use a variaty of pencil sizes. =]
It seems you spend a long time on the detail, try using pencil marks to create detail rather than spending hours drawing it "perfect" when the final product is somewhat lacking. For an example check this out, I know its been drawn with a tablet but its the same concept. You can see how they've built up textures using pencil marks. rather than simply colouring in an outline.
http://www6.incrysis.com/images/Art_CD/trooper_concept.jpg
You should really find a good book or search online for some tips. I was lucky enough to have an education in art. It seems you have some real passion for it, well considering how long it must of took you to create that piece.
One more thing, try and get away from the Manga, it will just hold you back and limit your technique.
I did use pencil marks?
I thought Manga-ish was a unique take?
And this pencil was 2B, pencil sets fail when you've lost half the pencils.