Lorelai Says: Hi Dorothy! That's a great picture you have there! When I was nine I wasn't NEARLY as talented as this! Good job, you're gonna be totally unstoppable when you reach your teens. Now, first, the hair: You have lots of lines, which is good, but they're going many different directions. If you click on my little thumbnail picture, you'll go to info page and you'll see lots of little thumbnails. I love hair, so each pic there has a pretty good hair example. Might want to check it out, especially Cecil and Rosa at the far right because they're black/white like your picture. Second: her chest is, ah, very large! Large chests, however, don't pop out like coconuts so. A little shadowing in two round shapes on the shirt is quite sufficient for most people =) Also, her hands seem a bit gummy; remember that each arm has a wrist, an elbow, a shoulder, and straight bones. Try not to bend the arm in any other places than the joints! Otherwise, I'd say you're off to an excellent start!

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Min Kwon Says: Wow, *so* much talent at such a young age! *hides her stuff from years ago* Your ability to depict an expression of a mood through drawing really amazes me. Okay... If "pretty" is your goal, I can help! There are two main features that make an anime figure look pretty: hair and the eyes. I think you got the feeling of Tolone's eyes, but her hair could be more "flowing." I got a picture that should show what I mean.
Pay attention to the red lines in the hair. Her bangs and her pigtails fall, and the lines should only follow the falling flow. No need for the lines that go to other directions. ^_^ And the rest of her hair go towards her pigtails. Try to make pigtails with your hair just like Tolone and you'll see how the hair go towards the pigtails.
Also the eyes. While Tolone does have sharp-edged, not-so-cute-round eyes, eyes can't be too "square-ish." Look at how the eye outlines are round in hair.jpg (note: the girl in hair.jpg is not Tolone). Try to give Tolone's eyes a little more roundness to make them look more natural. For your information, big round eyes tend to make the character look 'cuter' while edgy eyes give the feeling of 'coldness.' Again, I like how you drew Tolone so true to the character. Just a little round for naturalness. ^^
Wow, can't wait to see your future pics! ^____^ Keep drawing!

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Audra Says: Although age does not necessarily determine how good one should be, in your case, I'm extremely happy that you, at nine, have such a love of drawing people and a good grasp on complex features. Bravo!
Tolone is quite well done! She has all her necessary features. You've taken liberties to her costuming and drawn her in your own style, which I'm quite partial to! She has a great focused expression that looks great with her pose.
You already draw pretty pictures, believe me! Improvement comes with practice and observation. As you grow artistically and physically, you will be able to see what it is that you don't see right now. What *I* (as well as the other chosen REFFs) can help you with is point out what you can focus (for now) upon to help balance your drawings a little more.
First of all, the head is a lot larger than the rest of the body. This will happen because the head/face is a large part of what we as people focus upon when looking at others. (same with eyes.) It's also the first thing people draw and it's common to forget the composition of the rest of the paper. One thing that helps is to plot out the drawing in a light sketch (like those little wooden modeling dolls you see in art stores). Sometimes, it helps to get people to stand in the pose you intend to draw to help you visualize it correctly. (or even looking at photographs or magazines!)
Now, moving in to more of the details. First of all, you are to be congratulated! You don't draw sketchy lines to draw your characters. The lines are a little wobbly, but they're clean and bold. It takes people a while to work their way out of doing that and you've already got a great start. ^_^ Now, to direct you to a more advanced level, try to shade in one direction, with contrast and shade variation. It'll train you to get a lot more control over your pencil (or colored pencil or even crayon) and it will look cleaner in the long run. There are other techniques like cross-hatching, but those take practice to get right.
My advice to you is to work on proportions (which comes with practice and time) and your line work. Get some line variation and contrast. You have a wonderful start, Dorothy. I encourage you to color this one in! I love your brilliant colors! Don't ever stop drawing! With such a great start as yours, you will go far. ^_^

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Meriko Says: *bows down in homage to someone who can draw this well at 9 years old* At 9 years old...well, my people didn't look like people, I can tell you! You are on the path to greatness, Dorothy! ^_^ And now for the critique! You're going for "pretty," you said, so here's my advice towards that. In the anime world, "pretty" means flowy hair and big, sparkly eyes. Bravo on putting so much detail into the hair! For max prettiness ( ^_^ ) try drawing in smoother lines. I can see some very nice, smooth curves drawn into the picture in other places...just apply the same style of lines to her hair! Since her hair seems to be rather straight, the lines from the pigtail bands should probably curve up and out, and then fall down in a gentle curve. (browse any of my pics for examples of hair...I LOVE hair!!! And then just a word on proportions. I usually find myself with a nicely drawn head, and then no more room on the paper for the body. Tolone's head is a bit big for her bod, I think. Looking in the mirror and mentally measuring helps. "Let's see...my shoulder stick out this far past the sides of my head..." Or you can scrounge magazines for poses that look similar to the one you're drawing. What REALLY helps is to first sketch out a rough outline of your character on the page first...then you can find out ahead of time if you're going to run out of space or not. And yes, the eraser is your best friend. ^_^ Good luck, and keep up the excellent work! You have a keen eye and talented fingers, and I look forward to seeing more of your work in the future!

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