OMG MY FIRST ALPHONSE ELRIC ORIGINAL COLORED FAN ART! It's actually my first ever almost-complete Photoshopped image. All of my other fan arts were left unfinished, around 30-50% done. This one is around 80% complete. I haven't done some special effects yet and there still isn't any appropriate background.

I scaled down the pictures to 1200x900 because I thought they might be too big for your browser.
The second image is my raw drawing which I edited using Photoshop afterwards. It's a bit messed up though when I scanned it. When I came home it got a bit crumpled inside my bag but the books somehow kept it flat.


Alphonse sketch.

I noticed that a lot of people weren't posting any Al fan art to I decided to make one and posted it myself. I know it sucks and we've all seen better fan art but I think that's ok because i'm still a newbie at drawing and editing in Photoshop. I hope you guys like it!

I made this using a No. 2 pencil, A4 paper and then it was scanned by a Canon LiDE25 and edited using Adobe Photoshop CS2. I also drew this in school BTW.

Ed doodle.

Sorry if this one I drew on a size 1 paper. Also, don't mind the equations there. I just drew this out of boredom after finishing my math test and there was still a lot of time left and I didn't bother to review LOL. I was confident of my answers anyway. I hope you like it too even if it sucks... i've seen pencil drawn FMA fan art much better than what I did. I don't really know how to draw Ed's automail so please forgive me if it isn't exactly like the one we see in the anime or manga.

Also, to all pro Photoshop users there... please help me. I need some tips and tricks. Also tell me what you think of this... I need to know where I need to improve. Thanks! I'm also sorry for the very long post! I became so excited to show my fan art.

Oh yeah, how come when I upload my fan art into the site's gallery, it doesn't appear there?

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Anyone... please rate this and give me tips and tricks or anything which I can improve on. Sorry but i'm a really talkative person and I like saying a lot of things. At least just give me some help before the weekend is over. I can only use the PC for homework/school work during weekdays and I have to wait for my parents to go away before opening my web browser. Please, please give me tips! Thanks!

Hopefully Edshrimp, if you're reading this please help me! You draw so well and we're nearly the same age. You're my drawing idol!

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Yay! I finally got a sketch pad yesterday and tonight my parents allowed me to browse the internet since i've already done most of my school work and their mood was kinda good.

I drew this after eating lunch in school. Took me around 25-30 minutes to draw. Sorry if the shading sucks and I made an error (anatomical issue) in drawing the left arm (from our point of view). I didn't have enough time because the teacher already came. XD BTW, please tell me what to improve on. Thanks! I hope you like it!

EDIT: I'll be posting more drawing and Photoshopped art soon. But don't expect a lot of Photoshopped art, I don't have a lot of time to Photoshop things. In fact I only have the weekend to do such things. XD

Ed sketch.

You've got pretty good drawings there! They don't suck at all! The colored one of Alphonse is the first drawing you've ever colored using photoshop? That's impressive! Just a little tip: you decided the light source comes from the right, so it's wrong to draw highlights on his left shoulder. The light could never reach that. And you might practise body proportions a little. Other than that, I think they're pretty good

Oh, and next time, try to post a link to the drawing, or post it as an attachment. They are now stretching the forum sideways, which makes it annoying to read.
And avoid double/triple posting next time. If you want to add something to your post, just use the edit button.

Oh sorry. The following stuff I'll submit would be in an attachment form. Yeah... it's the my first completed Photoshopped drawing and it's also my very first FMA fan art. But i've practiced a few times before doing that. Most of what I practiced on weren't finished.

About the body proportions. I'm still not sure what you mean but i'll check it out closely. About the light source and highlight. Thanks, really so much for the tip. I've been dying to ask for help from other people regarding shading because I was never good at it. Can you also give me tips when drawing hands? I totally sucks in drawing hands from different angles and positions. Oh yeah. Sorry for the double post. I posted extra stuff because I edited the first post like 4 times because when I read the forum guidelines, I found out about the grammar police... First time ever that I heard about such a moderator group. XD

Sorry if I type a lot of stuff. I tend to express my feelings and thoughts over the internet instead of on the surface of my skin... I think you know what I mean.

I'll draw some more tomorrow at school and hopefully some teacher is absent so I can spend more time for drawing. And hopefully my parents would again allow me to use the PC for other things tomorrow night.

BTW, I heard that a lot of people buy Wacom tablets. I was planning to get a tablet. I get jealous (please take it as a complement) of those other people who make really good fan art just like Edshrimp (I saw his fan art and it was sooo good!) and I tried contacting him and he still didn't reply. I'll ask it from my parents as a birthday gift this October. What models of tablets do you use? I just want to know what's good for this hobby. My eyes are currently locked onto the Wacom Graphire 4 and the Genius Gpen 450.

It's 9:30 pm here at my place and my parents are telling me to sleep. Good night everyone! I just hope I can upload some more fan art tomorrow.

I've been doing a lot of research too for pen tablets, because I want one too. Most people recommend to buy a Wacom tablet, but they're so expensive! The best you can get is the Wacom Intuos 3. The Graphire is ok too, but isn't as good. The intuos has twice as much pressure sensivity levels and also has tilt sensivity. The Intuos is designed for drawing, while the Graphire is designed for photo editing. They're both good, it just depends on what you're looking for and how important that is for you.
If you're thinking about buying a A6 sized tablet, don't. Buy at least an A5 size. A5 works perfect for most artists. If you're going to use it as a hobby, A4 will be way too big. That's only needed for professional digital artists.
Anyway, I'd recommend to do a lot of research before you really buy one, read a lot of reviews, and compare the advantages and disadvantages of each tablet. This is all I know about pen tablets.

As for drawing hands: practise. Don't try to hide the hands in your drawings (I used to draw them in the pockets or behind the back because I wasn't good at it) but take it as a challenge. Use reference pictures, follow drawing tutorials, you can find it all across the internet. Practise makes perfect, right?

Edit: oh yeah, just so you know: I think Edshrimp is a girl

Yay! Got to use the PC again today for browsing other stuff.

@ Galorfilinde

I saw the price of the Intuos 3 and it's really expensive. Does sensitivity really make a big difference? The Intuos is like 3 times more expensive than the Graphire 4. Or I might just settle for a Genius Gpen 450 if my parents don't buy me the Graphire 4. Or just a Genius Gpen 560 as an alternative to the Graphire 4, since the Gpen 560 has a 4.5"x6" working area.

Here's another drawing I made after eating lunch in school. And yes, I tried drawing hands now! Took me around 20-25 minutes and I wasn't able to finish it or start the major shading since lunch break was over. *pif* I'm also not sure if I got the military uniform right. It's so hard to imagine it because it had a lot of detail... It's also a bit messy because I had to redo the streak of hair above Riza's forehead because I remembered the direction it should face, it's supposed to be to the right. BTW, please also tell me what I need to improve in this drawing and if there are any mistakes I made, especially with the hands. Thanks!

BTW, is Edshrimp really a girl?! OMG! Why should it be like this... now I doubt if she'll take me as her... sorta like an apprentice.

Also... you think I can still Photoshop shaded drawings? It's because I think that if I edit shaded drawings i'll have to clean it up first.

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Hi again! Here's another drawing! In fact my second Alphonse Elric drawing! I drew it in school and it look me longer than expected to finish this. Took me around 45-50 minutes. It's just a good thing I have good memory of what Al looks like (I mean the human version). I had serious problems with the hands so I had to draw it a few times, that's why the hands look slightly dirty but I did my best to keep it clean. I just hope you like it! Also, please rate it! I think this is my work with the best hands. I didn't shade it yet and I kept it quite clean because i'm planning to Photoshop this. So just wait next week and i'll Photoshop this over the weekend if I have extra time... it's exam week for me next week.

Oh yeah, please also tell me what I can add to this or if there are any anatomical issues. I want to make it look as natural as possible before Photoshopping it... I wanna at least make something I can be proud of. Hopefully Edshrimp replies to my message... I really want to get some tips and tricks from him (or her as i've heard from Galorfilinde but hopefully Edshrimp is a boy; if she's a girl she might refuse to teach me )

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Yay! It's friday! Unfortunately I'll be doing a lot of things this weekend (it's exam week for me next week!) and I won't really have time to Photoshop stuff, so maybe I'll submit more Photoshopped stuffed next (or next, next) weekend.

I made another drawing and I did this yesterday in school (I wasn't able to upload it last night because I had a lot of homework ) and this is my first time drawing Winry! I hope you like it! My inspiration was from a picture I remembered before. I think it was Riza Hawkeye doing a similar pose (but still different). It took me around 40 minutes to do it. Also, please ignore the fact that the hands I drew suck... I'm still practicing. I also might Photoshop this one in the future. Oh... and I still don't consider this one finished. Can anyone give me ideas on what else to add? Thanks!

Till next time!

Hmm.

First things first- I think you should either resize your image a lot more, or at least put the super huge pictures under a link rather than a direct image. I'm having kind of a hard time reading posts through the stretched screen.

Also, double posting isn't cool.


Aside from that, your work shows a good amount of potential, and I like your attitude, as you seem very eager to learn more and take advice and criticism. I think what you should work on foremost, as is the case with most who venture into anime style, is paying attention to keeping proportions and positioning realistic. Anime, cartoonish as it is, still derives from realism, and even if you are drawing outrageous cartoons, it still is imperative that you understand the physics of the object the cartoons are based upon. Keeping real hands and their physiology closely in mind can make a world of improvement for drawing them in proper size and positions in your drawing. (And this comes from someone who still draws horrid hands...)

I'm going to try to come back and think of more that you could improve on... my brain is a little dead right now; sorry.

(PS- um... why would Edshrimp refuse to teach you if she was a girl? That doesn't make any sense...)

*goes about merging the posts*

Since you're so enthusiastic and don't seem like a ignorant 'n00b', I'll let ya off the hook this time.
Hm, I'll also give ya some art advice later; you seem ready to devour any sort of CC.

Oh... sorry about that. Seems like I had to make you edit my long posts. Next time, I'll just compile the images in 1 post as long as the past post made is the one I made.

Yes, I don't mind opinions as long as they're related to what I'm doing because I seek to become better. FMA is just so inspiring to me for a reason. I'm just dying to make more fan art (but not this weekend).

About the hands, yeah, I take into account the realism it is derived from. When I draw I usually look at my own hand and start imagining what I would look like in the "anime world".

BTW Ailuro, what's a CC?

I know you noticed that most of my posts are long and I'll try to get to the point as much as possible. Well, this is the best I can compress my thoughts (but it's still a slightly long post).

Oh yeah, about Edshrimp being a girl... well I'm a guy. I don't think she'll teach me if she knew I was a guy. That's just the way I look at it.

*pif* So many stuff to do this weekend and exams next week (wednesday to friday ) I'll just be passing by here when I get a break from time to time.

BTW, thanks Ailuro for letting me go this time. I'll try not to repeat the same mistake.

First of all, CC stands for Constructive Criticism.

Secondly, it doesn't matter what your gender is; we aren't sexist here. And I'm sure Edshrimp isn't sexist either.

Third, it's great to have long posts. It's worse if your post is extremely short.

Alright, first thing I can suggest is to not just start drawing the final copy in one fell swoop. Begin with simple geometric shapes. I tell this to pretty much everyone, but guidelines work incredibly well. You steadily get more detailed as you continue drawing. And as Toby suggested, observe real world movements and anatomy. Anime is based on it.

Yeah! I'm already gone through 2 days of my 1st quarter exams and I'm having a break before the last day since the tests tomorrow are kinda easy for me (Math and Religion). So when I arrived home during noon time (exams days are half days) I immediately ate and started Photoshopping my Alphonse Elric drawing and here's the result! It's not really so perfect but I think I got the colors just right because I really wanted it to look like the anime version. Tell me what you think about this one... It took me nearly 3 hours to edit and I nearly got the result I wanted from all that hardwork. I also realized that making a good background was a lot hard than I thought. So I just opted for a background that immediately popped into my head.

I'll just do a quick 1-2 hour review for both tests tonight... before I sleep.

BTW, can anyone also give me some Photoshopping tricks? And a lot more of how to clean up line art... When I scanned my drawing and loaded it into Photoshop I couldn't use magic wand and I had to increase contrast to dark it but at the same time the lines started becoming thicker and messier... but at least I can use magic wand on open white areas to turn them into layers and color them. This is also why the lines in my fan art are a bit messy and slightly uneven in thickness. Please give me some tips please!!! Thanks!

I also got a reply from Edshrimp! Yay! She's willing to teach me tricks! And regarding guidelines Ailuro, I'm using them now for hands and some hard-to-do-angles and the results are just amazing! I draw those oval shaped things and connect them for the hands. I'm having an easier time with drawing hands now. Just draw the structure then overlap it with the real hands once I'm finish up the drawing.

I'll make an exception this time and draw some stuff at home over the weekend... because I don't really draw at home. But it's a long weekend with absolutely no school work because the 1st quarter has just ended and there's no school for me on monday, I believe there's some kind of national holiday. Just expect me to post more this weekend.

Here it is: One without a background and one without a background.

I'm not sure, as I don't have photoshop, but I would reccomend forgoing photoshop altogether and going back to pencil until you've mastered the basics. Digital media is useless if you can't command your basic drawings properly. Many people seem to think that digital art is a shortcut- and can allow someone to excell with no tallent. That's a major fallacy. While programs like photoshop are excellent for clean coloring and linework, and can add some neato effects, the art is stilla matter of what you have in your mind.

It's a matter of tons of practice, and training your mind to translate what you see- not what you think you see. Which is where anatomy study comes in really handy. Once you've learned to truly observe a figure and draw exactly what you see, not how you think it, then imagining figures becomes easier.

For example- when a child draws a flower, he draws it always from the front- where you see the center of pollen as a perfect circle, and the petals neatly lined up around it. Always the same direction, because that is how flowers are in his mind.

An artist draws a flower as he sees it; perhaps slightly angled; some of the petals are obscured by the others, and the center is facing several degrees away, so it's an oval shape instead.

This works doubly with the human body.

We think- A person has five fingers. So I must draw all of them.

When in practicality, the position of the hand angles it so that only four of those five fingers are visible, but we know, by the skill of the artist, that the fifth finger is there; just not in our sight.

Also remember that even though anime are cartoons, you can't break the rules of the human body (for the most part.) For example, in your winry sketch, the way her arm is bent makes it look more like it's just a hollow noodle rather than bones and flesh. For some help, making circles and guidlines will cure some of that. To make it much more visually appealling and believeable, study the way the muscles and bones of the arm shift and flex depending on their position. That's one of the most fun parts of human anatomy- the same body part is very differently shaped depending on which way it is bent or pointed. Just look in the mirror and observe the difference when you face your palm away and toward your body. The curves and contours of your arm change.

First quarterly exams are over and I have three days of absolutely no school work. Yay!

I got most of your tips Toby and they're great. The thing is I don't know where to find a good source for anatomy specifically engaged for artists. I also noticed something wrong about my Winry drawing but I couldn't figure out where to fix it. And yeah, when I draw something, I have a solid image of what I'm drawing in my mind. But I make a few adjustments when I'm around half-way finished with the drawing.

I also draw a lot of other drawing on scratch paper because I don't like wasting stuff. I'll try to practice on my sketch pad this time. My forte was always in computers that my I tried to jump immediately to Photoshopping. I'll try to spend more time practicing traditional art.

BTW, please comment on my second Alphonse Elric fan art. I'm really kinda proud of it even if it may not look so good to other people. I just wanna know where I can improve.

Also, I'm considering getting a Wacom Graphire 4 or a Genius G-Pen 450/560. What do you think of these? I'm having a hard time looking for credible reviews for these products.

Thanks!

I'm sorry if I wasn't able to visit here in a long while. I didn't expect to do so much things after we finished our first quarterly examinations. I've only had some free time yesterday and last sunday. I'll be busy as well for the next 2 weeks. I promise to put up more of my art by after I'm done with all the "busy stuff". I've also already acquired a graphics tablet but sad to say I don't have time to use it.

BTW, here's something I did in school when we had "free time" since the teacher was away. Finished it in nearly 50-60 minutes. Umm... is that fast? Because I think this time I drew it fast this time considering I usually take 30-40 minutes without any shading. Also, sorry if my scanner couldn't scan the whole page, my sketch pad is slightly larger than my scanner's scanning area. I drew this because I finally watched the Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: The Conqueror of Shamballa. Reminds me of a lot of things... I had to hold myself back from crying while watching the movie because I was at my friend's house.

I hope you like it! I'll be back in perhaps 2-3 weeks and with Photoshopped works! Hopefully...

I see you as a very dedicated FMA fan..

Hmm.. We're equal when it comes to photoshop as I begun using it about a few months. But you are able to make a coloured fanart using a computer mouse and I can't. I've tried doing it and it looks terrible. Ahaha.. I'm still considered as a newbie though.

I see that you're improving in your sketches. BTW, may I ask how long have you been drawing?

I hope you won't mind me making a little comment on your latest sketch. The drawing itself is good, but the shading is a bit too flat. I think you need some reference to it, do visit Toby-chan's deviantArt account (link is at her sig) and examine her pencil arts. I suggest you get a good set of shading pencils to make your works more dynamic

BTW, I'm an Intuos3 user. I bought the A5-size tablet about a week ago and I think its perfect for digital illustrations. I draw using pencils on paper and colour them using colour pencils for more than 7yrs, usually they are manga characters. When I draw using the tablet at photoshop, I don't feel any much difference compared to drawing on paper. The pen tablet allows me to draw as naturally as I draw on paper and I'm pretty comfortable when using it. If you wish to see some of my digital and non-digital artworks, you can visit my deviantArt account *shameless advertising* I hope I have explained myself well enough..

If you enjoy drawing, I suggest you should get Intuos3 A5 size. The working space is not too small for you to draw (for leisure like me) because the tablet lasts for a very long time. I have a friend who uses Wacom Graphire 2 to make her digital illutrations for 5 years and it's still in good condition.

I have other things to do right now and I'm only allocating 30 minutes to 1 hour of my time to check my email and surf the net.

@ MelRiza... Yeah... same here... I'm still a newbie. I started drawing seriously when I was watching FMA around 3 months ago. Regarding Photoshopping, I've been using it for the past 4-5 months I think. I use a #2 pencil for the draft and 2B, 4B, 6B, 8B Staedler pencils for finishing. But I only use the 2B and 4B now... I have yet to use the 6B and 8B... I find them too hard. About the graphics tablet, I recently got one but not an Intuos... it's expensive. I'm only 12 years old you know... I've got a budget. The one I bought is a Genius G-Pen 560. I got it for around $75 (if converted to US dollars). It has okay specs like 2000 LPI, 1024 pressure sensitivity, 125/s report rate, 4.5 x 6 inches work space. I'm also having hard time using the graphics tablet because it didn't feel like the traditional pen and paper especially because of the high sensitivity and "I look at the screen not the tablet" thing when drawing. I thought it would be like pen and paper before I got it. Anyway... I'll see what it can do when I get the hang of it. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time to use it.

Also, thanks for the critique MelRiza! I'll try to check out some stuff on shading. I only started shading recently. I can't seem to find Toby-chan's DeviantART link on your sig.

Egh?! I didn't know you were 12.. Ahaha.. so sorry about that. It's natural to feel different when using the tablet for the first few times, but after a while you'll get used to it. Hmm.. I hope you can finish whatever you need to do soon so that you can allocate some time to practice on the tablet ^^

Ahh.. Toby-chan's deviantART link is at her signature

MelRiza, thanks for Toby-chan's link! I'll have to make a DeviantART account too so I can "watch" those people who are really good in making art.

Luckily, we had two free periods in a row and it was both before lunch break So I really had a lot of free time. I was able to make some drawings. I'll be free tonight and tomorrow night. So probably I will be able to photoshop something tomorrow night.

The first and second drawing isn't FMA... so sorry for that. I wanted to try something else so I draw those. My inspiration for them are Dead or Alive for the girl drawing and some online games I used to play for the boy drawing. Took around 50 minutes for the girl and around 40 minutes for the boy, including shading.

The third drawing is something I'm planning to photoshop but I still think it's incomplete and I can't see what's missing, so I'll be grateful for any comments and additions you people may add.

Also, I'll be practicing the use of my graphics tablet tonight. Can you recommend me a good program that I can use with my graphics tablet? I'm currently using Adobe Photoshop CS2 for drawing and it doesn't feel like the best program. Thanks!

@Ratzenheich FMA Super fan - Wow, you are 12??!! Those are impressive drawings for anyone at your age!!
I'm not an expert, so I don't have any advise to give you.
Just want to comment that I like your drawings very much!!
My favorite is Riza one in the first page, but I like them all!!
Please keep up!!

Great Job, you're so good, KEEP WORKING

Hey guys! I'm back after such a long time. I stopped visiting October or November I think. If you're wondering why I suddenly disappeared, my interest in drawing and Fullmetal Alchemist plummetted after a volley of school work at that time, other new interests, and a Xbox 360 which became my new time killer.

My computer got reformatted a few days ago because of some crappy virus we couldn't get rid off and all my previous works were erased, along with those that I promised. So I can't make anymore promises. Life can just shoot a bazooka at me at any moment so I have to keep on running. Also, all my programs for making fan art before were also erased so I'll have to get again Photoshop and those other apps.

So I'm back to step one because the last time I drew was around the time I lost interest in FMA and the time I left here. I just renewed my interest in FMA today.

Anyway, here's a really crappy drawing I made in MS Paint. Took 10-15 minutes to draw -- blah, took too long to make a crappy doodle... the lack of practice is killing me. For the meantime I'll have to practice and get Photoshop and similar apps.

EDIT: Oh, I forgot to greet everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR! And it's very nice to see Edshrimp still posting here! She's so pro!!! I'm glad she's still here. I can still learn from her and I hope I can be as good as her. XD

Thats a good computer drawing,better than mines (I suck at it,heh) I like how you did your signature on the computer,and Ed's eyes ^^ Welcome back,sorry I don't know you because I just joined the members a couple weeks ago after I forgot my password to the other messed up user ^^' I haven't been on for a long time so I renewed my interest in fma too haha

@Ratzenheich FMA Super fan - Welcome back!! Nice to see you again!!
I have to merge your new thread with the old one since we have "one artist, one art thread" posting guideline for this forum. (except the doujin story or having the other thread for multiple artists, etc.) Sorry!! Hope you don't mind!!

Anyway, I'm so glad you are back with renewed interest in FMA drawing!!
I like your new Ed drawing!! He looks very cheerful and happy!!
(Oh yes, happy belated new year to you, too!!)
Can't wait to see more of your drawings!!

Here's a random doodle. Drew it during my 20 minute break in school. I didn't have clean bond paper at that time so I had to use an intermediate pad (or whatever it's called). I scanned it in greyscale.

Gah... seems like I still need a lot more practice.

@ Tombow

Oh. I forgot about my old thread and double posting. Anyway thanks for the welcome.

BTW, I just noticed now the slightly updated site layout. It goes well with my PC's Mac theme.

@Ratzenheich FMA Super fan - You can doodle that during the 20 min. break??
Wow, that's really good!!
Too bad that was on lined paper!!
You got to carry some bond paper with you, just in case.
Nice jobs!!

Thanks! I didn't really expect myself to draw at that time. Also, bringing around bond paper in my bad is a hassle. I didn't have my sketch pad at that time.

Anyway, I have a new drawing here that I drew on my sketch pad. It's far from finish but this is what I've done in 15-20 minutes. Still working on the line art and will be fixing the proportion soon.

@Ratzenheich FMA Super fan - Yeah, I know what you mean that it's cumbersome to carry the bond paper all the time!!
At least I'm glad you have some paper with you when your artistic urge for drawing strikes you!!
I like your movie Ed and Al!! They have such a pleasant features!!
Would you like t try coloring it?? I bet that will be good, too!!
Hope to see some more!!

Haven't drawn in a long time. I drew this just now before posting this. Took me 15 minutes to draw this doodle. Still not yet done though. I just wanted to upload it before I forget.

BTW, if you're wondering why this. I got my Nintendo DS Lite this week and got FMA Dual Sympathy as well! Too bad FMA DS is such a short game.

I hope you like this drawing. Also, sorry if the drawing is too light. I'll try to darken it once I go through it again. But now I just wanna upload this and sleep.

@Ratzenheich FMA Super fan - Haha, I like the idea of Ed and Al playing Nintendo DS!!
Nice job!!

Great job in thinking out of the box...
Nice drawing nevertheless Ratzenheich

Thanks for the comments!

I added a bit more detail and darkened the drawing. Took another 15 minutes. Scanned it this time in greyscale.

Gah... My drawings still suck. I wonder when I'll be ever as good as someone like Edshrimp. Just look at her drawings in the other thread.

I still hope you like it.

DO remember, it takes numerous cycles to sharpen a piece of metal to a sharp knife...
You do have the talent... and you are still green...
All it takes, is practice... ^.^

@Ratzenheich FMA Super fan - Big improvement in scanning quality!!
And, the shading added much more definitions to the drawing!!
I like that very much!!

I know I haven't improved or anything but I'm still posting this even if it looks like crap. At least I have an excuse to bump my thread. XD

Took me 15 minutes to draw this doodle. Sorry if I drew it on scratch paper. I just decided to draw out of the blue and I did it on scratch without thinking that I'd be posting it online.

What's happening in the drawing is that Al is supposed to be telling jokes and Ed is trying to get in between Al and Winry. Anyway, I hope you like it... despite my skills still being bad.

Also, regarding that other project I have about making an English version of "Link". It's harder than I thought, the singing part. I can't stand hearing my own voice singing and ruining the song.

@Ratzenheich FMA Super fan - I think you are making nice improvements!! ^^
My case in point... IMO, the propotion of the bodies are much more accurate this time;
The poses of the characters are less stiff and looks more natural;
The eye lines (direction of eyes) of each character matches to the "situation" of the pic;
And, the "situation" (or the story of the image) is more complex this time, and you were able to create the image that matches more complex story!
Good work!! I would love to see more of your postings!!

And, about the Link project... I think it's better if you post that on Link thread so that posters there would know that you are running into some bumps on the project.
Not all posters there would also read this thread.

A while ago, just out of nowhere, an idea popped into my head while watching TV and I went off drawing. This drawing took me around 20 minutes to finish. I know it has no shading or any fancy effects and stuff but that's how I like it and it's the best I can do. I hope you like it.

@Ratzenheich FMA Super fan - I like that one!!
Mnay people copy what's in the pic just as is, but you get the idea in your head, and you can draw that... I think that's excellent!!
I like Ed's expression, and I think Al came out very cute!!
Nice job!!

What happened to Ed's ice-cream?
It turned out really nicely I agree with Tombow, it's really good if you have an idea in your head but it's better if you can put it on paper xD

I had a look at your first works and I can tell you've made a huge improvement over time. Keep up the good work!

Why must everyone be mean towards Ed
I can say nothing because what I wanted to say basically are all said out...
But yes, your imagination is great... Maybe video games have advantages too
If you always freed your drawings turns out not nice always remember,
"When there is the will, eventually you will succeed" because the true beauty is the effort you put in...

Thanks for the compliments everyone!

BTW, here's another drawing.

I just drew it while ago. Took me around 25 minutes to draw. And again, nothing fancy since I'm not yet confident of my skills in shading and those fancy effects stuff. I'll probably ruin it if I tried to apply them. I scanned it this time in "color" mode because "greyscale" scanning mode makes it look dark.

I made this especially for my very first official friend here in the forums, Illusionist Alchemist! I saw in his profile and I also heard from other people that he's a big fan of Alphonse Elric so I drew Al, though a bit older. This is my rendition of Al Elric at around age 16-18. I also had a good and long chat with him the other day so I was guessing what to draw and came up with this instead. I just hope he likes it!

@ baka-nekoh

I don't know too. It just fell. But Winry's gonna share her ice cream with Ed anyway.

@Ratzenheich FMA Super fan - Wow, that Al is very very good!!
It really looks like Al being a young man, and he got very nice pleasant expression, too!!
The proportion is well balanced, and the pose looks very natural, too!!
And, the sign is a nice touch!! ^^
Excellent job!!

@ Ratzenheich, heh thanks for the message, but very nice work indeed

Nice drawings!!!! You're really good for being so young!!!

I've been meaning to do this for ages but I keep getting interrupted. =.=
Anyway, just dropping in to give a bit of advice and comment on your drawings. Hope you don't mind.
Um, I'm going to base my comments on your last two drawings. =D

Firstly, I'm impressed at the way you've balanced your proportions. Good work here so far!
The clothes your characters wear sometimes look rather..stiff. Cloth is fluid-ish in most cases- they droop down and move/rustle when your characters move. And they have creases and folds in certain areas. In your last Al fanart, you've done an OK job of that but in the ice-cream pic, you're lacking a few folds. Or maybe it's only because you didn't shade. I'll see if I can find a good tutorial on DeviantArt on drawing clothes and PM you the link. After my internet isn't so crappy. ;;
Also, the hair. The hair is also a "fluid-ish" thing. To give it a bit more of that "fluid-ish" look in your drawings, I'd recommend you add a few stray strands (not too much though). If it helps, I also kinda "split" a bit of the tips of long hair. This is kinda hard to explain...(but you should also only do this in moderation XD)
I remember back on page one of your thread, Toby-Chan mentioned something about imagining things. This to be precise:

In your ice-cream pic, Ed's left hand seems to be on an odd angle. I know sometimes it's difficult to image where the lines all go to form the image. I'm guessing that's why you've put the arm there- I know I do that sort of stuff sometimes. In cases where you have trouble with your angles and whatever, it doesn't hurt to take a look at other pictures and copy the basic outline to work with. It helps me alot.
Same goes with your picture for Illusionist with the right hand on an odd angle to the arm.

The best thing that helps you is observation. Not only just looking at pictures but also at your surroundings. When you're bored, occasionally take in your surroundings and have a look at how everything is placed from your POV. Looking at people will help you too (please don't use this as an excuse to perv..) since you take in how one part of the body is in proportion to others. Um, again, it helps me alot... XD

Sorry for the extremely long post, I just suck at summarizing and there might be some unnecessary stuff in there but anyway, keep practicing! BTW, I'm not really pro at drawing so all this help isn't some official guideline, just some advice.

Hiya Ratzenheich FMA Super fan, your a amazing drawer ! I think all your drawings are awesome but my fav is Alphonse on the first page . Keep up the great work, and really your so good at drawing !

Huzzah! I just got really bored a drew another Al drawing because Al always reminds me of someone special and he's just loves Al a lot. Took around 25 minutes to draw using a regular pencil with a rated No. 2 hardness.

@ baKa-neKoh

Sorry about that. I'll take your tips into consideration. It only now that I passed by this thread again.

@ Katie

Thanks for the compliment. But really... I suck because I'm a guy. Girls always draw better. Period. Come to think of it... I think I'm the only guy who posts drawings here. O_O

@Razent:Nice Alphonse drawing. He looks cute.

Hey,
I really like your drawings, especially the Al you drew for Illusionist Alchemist. You know, when I saw him, I thought: that's really good. Maybe you should try to colour him. It might turn out good. ^^

Your other drawings are very nice too, but as others said: try to ad more folds and shadows. It makes you drawings look more 3D. ^^ You did a great job on shadowing Al with pencil, though.

Awesome drawing of Alphonse Ratzenheich I love all the shading you did on his jacket giving him that 3-D effect Keep it up

@Ratzenheich FMA Super fan - Nice to see you again!! ^^
That's a cute Alphonse drawing!!
I love all your Al drawings!!

BTW, thanks for the comments.

I'm too bored and I can't sleep. So I just drew since I was so bored. It took forever to finish. I spent around 1 hour 10 minutes with this. Used standard pencils with No. 2 level of hardness.