Realistic vs. Non-realistic

While I know that my final piece is going to be in a manga style, I feel as though it is important for me to show that I understand that there are many differences between animated drawing and life drawing.

I started off by looking at real life drawings, which enabled me to be able to see just how different some cartoon styles can be in comparison. Out of the entirety of the book, I chose the above images as I felt they would be more helpful towards my final piece. While I know that my final piece isn't going to be in this style, I feel as though I can implement the above images into my work in order to make my piece feel even a little bit more realistic.

I chose the second image, as it shows facial structures and proportions very well. It helps me to understand a more realistic approach to drawing facial features.

I particularly like the third image, as it shows how the body looks when it moves, and it shows the process in order to draw it in such a way. Being able to see how the body moves with different movements is very helpful when wanting to obtain a more realistic approach.

This book contained mostly fantasy type drawings; while I'm no longer planning on a fantasy setting, I still feel as though this book was helpful to me as it showed me a completely different drawing style than I'm used to seeing. This book was particularly helpful when I was looking at clothing references, as it showed the base character underneath and then what differences their clothing made once it was added. There were also very helpful annotations on the pages that I found very supportive for my overall research. 

This book was the most helpful for me, as it included the areas that I'm not as confident in. Hands and different poses have always been a challenge for me while drawing, so the fact that this book contained guidance on both was extremely helpful in the long run.

There were basic poses, which were more helpful for the kind of piece I was producing, and also more complex poses that involved movements. These more advanced poses were helpful, as I was able to change the pose I was drawing my character in to make it appear more natural. 

This book also contained a section on facial expressions, which I learned a lot from. As I will be adding in some core facial expressions on my final piece, this particular section was beneficial, as it allowed me to use this section as a slight reference.

References:

Elvin, E, Felder, E (2005). Draw Manga - Complete Techniques. London: Kandour Ltd. p1-144.

Civardi, G (2014). An Introduction to Drawing the Human Body. Kent: Search Press Ltd. p16-36.

Caldwell, B (2005). Fantasy! Cartooning. New York: Sterling Publishing Co. p37-55.