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I’ve learnt some Spencerian from Michael Sull, but he has a book that is specifically for American Cursive:
The Art of Cursive Penmanship: A Personal Handwriting Program for Adults https://www.amazon.com/dp/1510730524/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_WAQC5RPT21SZ521SDM50?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 which might be a good resource.
Are you also trying to learn baybayin? Kudos, good luck.
Myself, I was trying to learn the textura quadrata ("diploma"-style stuff). But a well-rounded resource is The Calligrapher's Bible by David Harris. It covers both historical and modern styles, with a suggested ductus (or stroke order) for, like, a hundred hands. Amazon link below:
https://www.amazon.com/Calligraphers-Bible-Complete-Alphabets-Draw/dp/0764156152
This book is fucking amazing for people new to drawing the human form. it goes over heads, perspectives, dynamic poses, etc.
If you don't mind spending a little money: How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way (Amazon Link) is an excellent resource. It suffers slightly from being "a little about a lot" but there is plenty to learn from it and it's entertaining & easy to read.
There also appears to be a Youtube video narrated by Stan Lee and John Buscema. I haven't seen this before today, but the drawings in the video are straight out of the book.
here's another suggestion then. When you're looking for input on your work, make sure it's 100% what you would show a client. Would you show a client your work here with the text defaulted? Find the font and install it. You want to put your best foot forward.
I really liked this book when i was learning. https://smile.amazon.com/Logo-Lettering-Bible-Leslie-Cabarga/dp/1581804369/ref=sr\_1\_3?crid=3HUBLHLXIFH6K&keywords=logo+font+and+lettering+bible&qid=1642205124&sprefix=logo+font+and+%2Caps%2C118&sr=8-3
I just purchased Artist & Illustrator recently and I'm pretty impressed so far. It has over 200 Tolkien illustrations, reprinted in colour, with a solid amount of commentary (from all of his works [including random sketches and doodles he drew that were not part of any of his books], not just the Legendarium). It's also a quite simply a great looking book - nice and big.
They mention that they take from "Pictures by JRRT" which only has a small amount of photos. They also worked directly with the Tolkien family including Christopher himself to procure the other pictures and illustrations they showed, which I don't believe are available elsewhere.
With that, and while I haven't viewed everything that's available, you really can't go wrong with A&I as a Tolkien companion book.
Edit - added more info
Check out a workbook like this.
But for an easy exercise to get started, practice your loops and lines. The foundation of beautiful handwriting is consistency, and this will help standardize the width and slant of your letters.
Sure. There's a classic book on the subject called "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way" that goes into some detail on the body proportions relative to the head of the figure.
In short, while an ordinary person is between 6 and 7 "heads" high, Marvel heroes are more like 8 or even 9, depending, and their bodies are at least 3-4 "heads" wide (while normal people are more like 2.5). If you want to make someone look puny, make his head overly large relative to his body. Stocky? Make their head large, square, and their bodies wide.
Colors are important, but not I think as much as camera angles, subtle facial features, lighting, and posing. Anyone will look villainous with a light source below their face, yet look fine with the same light to one side or from the top. Try it with a flashlight.
There's a lot more in the book, and other books like it. The art of comics is more of a craft these days, since there are fairly specific rules, at least with the weekly comics stuff. Graphic novels are more inventive, but there I think there's a much wider variety of subject matter so it's not the same.
https://www.comicsexperience.com/scripts/ - grab a script and just go nuts drawing. Don't worry too much about it. After you have attempted that - check out How To Draw Comics the Marvel Way. The fundamentals presented in that book are still valid even though the tools and technology has changed quite a bit. Then give your script another attempt!
Good luck!
Best book on ink drawing I can think of. it will let you develop your ability then you can develop a style.
That's definitely pen & ink, if you want to learn how, this is one of the classic books, also check out Alphonso Dunn and Frank Lohan's books.
I think the Vector Bootcamp series on YouTube is pretty good.
This book is quite good. I was written a couple decades ago, but the info on using bezier curves is still solid.
Also regarding Autotrace - it can be a very useful tool if you tweak the settings. I find trying a few different settings and cleaning up the best one is still a better use of time and energy than tracing a photo yourself. Of course the complexity you want is a big factor in that.
It's an old book, but I got into drawing figures from "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way"
IMO, It's a great book for beginners. Keeps it fun, especially if you happen to be a comic book fan. Ofc, I supplemented it with other books and videos later on down the road. But that is cool thing about art, you never stop learning and improving, just from doing it. Just don't stop drawing!
I got started by learning Blackletter (Gothic) calligraphy from here, then progressed to other hands after purchasing The Calligrapher's Bible, which has 100 different hands in it (although not really, since it counts miniscules and majiscules as separate hands, so something such as italic would count as two hands - Italic uppercase and Italic lowercase - rather than just one).
The best way to learn perspective is by thinking of the body as 3d forms, rather than 2d shapes. Practice drawing the body using 3d forms like cubes and cylinders. I'd recommend picking up a copy of How to Draw Comics The Marvel Way or watching the Video Version. This book has some great fundamental tips and exercises. Good luck on your improvement!
Books.
How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way has been one of my favorite books on stylized art. Being written in 1978, it's dated in some aspects, but it does have quite a bit in it that I liked.
This book will really help. Just about all modern comic book artists started with it.
This is a little more architecture focused, but it does go into a ton of detail about line work and what lines to use to produce certain effects.
And not sure this is what you want, but here's a free copy of the classic Successful Drawing by Andrew Loomis
as mentioned, your focal points are too close to each other, so you're getting a really tight corner. one other thing to consider is that we're seeing the house from up high. your eye is at your horizon line, so the viewer is floating up near the top of the roof. that's not necessarily wrong, but most of the time, we see things from about 5 to 6 feet off the ground. if your drawing was drawn from the ground plane, your eye would be somewhere in the middle of the front door. my guess would be slightly higher than the door handle. your texture work is getting better though, your hatch for the roof is a good example of looking at how to imply texture, instead of drawing it all.
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you might want to check out this book: https://www.amazon.com/Rendering-Pen-Ink-Techniques-Illustrators/dp/0823045293 it has GREAT information on how to use hatching and linework as texture and tone
It took me about a year to work through this, but it forever changed my handwriting. I fell in love with journaling after getting to the point that I loved my writing.
One of the tips in Drawing Comics the Marvel Way is to spend less line economy all around, especially in the face. If you're drawing comics then you'll need multiple panels per page and multiple people per panel. You can only manage to fit so many lines on faces at those sizes before it gets muddy so make those lines count. Figure out how to simplify all the information you're trying to communicate so you can go from rough sketch to finished line work by using fewer overall lines to get you there.
That's also a tip mentioned in Drawn to Life when talking about making your frames easier to animate. Do you really need five folds to communicate a folded piece of clothing? Does one still convey the same idea of a folded piece of cloth and take less overall line work to get me there? Those sorts of efficient details really help you get to your finished work faster without sacrificing quality.
Stan Lee wrote a book along with illustrations by John Buscema called How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way : How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way
Google the book title and you’ll be able to find YouTube videos that people have made to accompany the book.
Amazing recommendation! I was actually looking for this reference. It was recommended to me while studying painting in the early 90’s at college. Then again in the late 90’s while studying computer animation. I recommended this book to both my kids who are avid artists. Great start with your drawing ms by the way. Keep going and keep asking for criticism. So important!
Based on your other comments, it sounds like you might just need to get a workbook and take the time to practice a specific style. The current American handwriting is just "American Cursive" Michael Sull has a workbook on Amazon called "The Art of Cursive Penmanship" but you could also go with the Palmer Method, which would be what your grandparents or great-grandparents learned depending on your age. There's a link to Palmer in the About/Free, Useful Resources section of this sub.
Mine was abysmal and I took a little bit of time each day to work through a set of 5 Spencerian copybooks I got off of Amazon and it made a huge difference. There are a ton of free printable resources for it though.
Pick a style and spend 10-20 minutes most days practicing. It takes some time to get going, but once you start noticing improvement the payoff is big.
Look up the Facebook group "Copperplate Script For All". TONS of information and support. On Youtube, look for videos, including those from Dr. Joseph Vitolo, who is a leading authority, and a down-to-earth instructor.
One of the best books to learn from is this: https://smile.amazon.com/Mastering-Copperplate-Calligraphy-Step-Step/dp/0486409511/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2AE668GZ9HME6&keywords=eleanor+winters+mastering+copperplate+calligraphy&qid=1648595321&sprefix=copperplate+elea%2Caps%2C142&sr=8-1
If you feel you want more intensive training, there are lots of good instructors giving online classes, including Kestrel Montez, Suzanne Cunningham and David Grimes.
Good luck in your pursuits - Calligraphy is a wonderful hobby, and can be a lucrative business!
Technically it's pen rendering, but in general, I'm just sketching. If you want an old, but also excellent, book on it, this one is known to be a good teaching tool https://www.amazon.com/Rendering-Pen-Ink-Techniques-Illustrators/dp/0823045293
Your anatomy and shading, - pretty damn good. The one book I think you would get enormous benefit from is this one: https://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-Comics-Marvel-Way/dp/0671530771 Your poses are a little stiff, and I think this will help tremendously.
Have you read How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way? John Buscema draws most of the art for the book, but there are plenty of example panels from Kirby, too.