Doodle Diaries: How I draw

For no reason other than "I felt like it", here is a sort of step by step process of how I draw.

First, I do a rough sketch.

I also draw other characters too, I swear.
I just happened to be drawing Jun when I thought I should write about how I draw...

When I'm satisfied with the sketch, I start to pencil.

I notice something off with the posture while penciling. Is it the arms? I arm-stretch in front of the mirror to check. No, that's not the problem. But something is definitely wrong.

I google-image search "arm stretching":

Ohhhhh, the shoulders! (I can't believe I missed that when I posed in front of the mirror) I re-draw the shoulders.

Re-drawing the shoulders ruins the entire composition because the initial sketch and lines were built on an anatomically incorrect posture. I re-sketch most of the body and weep internally. I should have just used references, I think to myself.

I pencil again.

I also re-sketched the legs like four times. Help me.

I don't know how other people do it, but I tend to erase and pencil simultaneously bit by bit until I'm done.

I am more careful and when erasing pencil marks on the more detailed parts of the drawing, i.e. head and face.

I fix more details. For instance, Jun doesn't have a prominent nose like that, and his nose bridge is  a bit more sloped down.

I end up having to re-draw the mouth and chin when I fixed his nose because the entire face line no longer works and changing one thing changes everything.

I use light pencil strokes to portray muscle definition. There is a lot of trial and error because I do not have a firm grasp on anatomy. 

Why did I decide to record the process of a drawing that has a lot of muscles? I think to myself. But it's too late now.

After the fourth or fifth attempt I just settle with what I have, anatomy be damned.

I google image search "training shoes" for reference because I honestly cannot draw most shoes to save my life. I draw shoes.

Finally finished lining!

I "color" my drawing using pencil strokes.

Narrower pencil strokes indicate dark colors, wider pencil strokes indicate medium-toned colors. Non-colored spaces are supposed to be white or bright colors. Light pencil strokes indicate shading.

Sometimes I wonder why I don't just ink and color instead of pencil-stroking all the time, but this is how I roll.

Drawing is now complete.

Sometimes I fix bits and pieces after "finishing" a drawing.

Good example is a picture I drew the other day (feat: Thomas). I sketched, lined, and colored like I explained above and considered this drawing completed.

But upon further inspection, I found that Thomas's right leg, if he were to un-bend it, would be significantly longer than his left leg and therefore anatomically impossible. Also, that's not where his knees should be located. My friend Robert also told me that the vest was too long.

So I fixed all these things. The vest is shorter, and Thomas's posture looks much more natural.

Needless to say it takes a while. If I were to sit down and do the entire process nonstop, it would take several hours. Usually the process takes me a day or two because I stop every once in a while to take a break or do life things like work, eat, sleep, etc.

It's still one of the most fun things to do in the world for me.