Does WATCHING Anime Help You Draw Better?

[Emo Zombiez]

Aeki

Rading manga is even better- you can acctually study each picture, and there is much more work put into the art 3nodding

i agree

[ilikemuggles]

If anything, I think trying to learn how to draw from anime will actually make you a worse artist than if you studied from life. You learn the style, but nothing else.

And learning style without structure is absolutely worthless. If you study the human figure from life and draw enough, you'll develop your own style.

[Bluechef]

rstemshorn

yeah, it wouldn't help me draw any better watching it, but it's still fun to watch ;D

I definitely think it would help you draw better. By watching the characters on the screen, you are observing their general shape, ect. I've picked up TONS of influence from comics like VG Cats just by reading them. Whether you know it or not, you are becoming more attuned to the nuances of a style just by observing it.

[Sakuriku]

When I look at art, for 10 minutes to half an hour, and draw directly after, my drawings noticeably look better than when I just randomly decide to draw. If when you are watching the anime, you are looking at the way the artist did certain things, and if it is indeed anime that you are trying to draw, then I think it does help you improve, but perhaps only if you put what you've observed to the test before you forget. If you just watch it you won't improve, but watching before drawing might speed up the learning process.
...Just what I think.

[Sakuriku]

ilikemuggles

If anything, I think trying to learn how to draw from anime will actually make you a worse artist than if you studied from life. You learn the style, but nothing else.

And learning style without structure is absolutely worthless. If you study the human figure from life and draw enough, you'll develop your own style.

This is my main issue.
I don't want to necessarily draw anime..I don't care what style it fits into, as long as what I draw looks good.
The problem is, all I can draw is anime, and it doesn't even necessarily look good. It looks best if I use references, which I hate doing because it just makes me feel like I am less capable, since I know the drawing would look worse without one.

[Capo Dei Capi]

Mind blowing question you got thar

[AiCuLKaErB]

It helps me I started drawing anime like 3 years ago and I didn't really watch anime that much. I watch anime like every day and now I draw like way better. But I also think practicing is the key too lol.

[Citteh]

I VERY highly doubt it especially if you look at [******** the crap that is drawn in anime. Seriously just look at a few of those images. If you think that looking at examples like that will help you... yikes.

[Read and Refute]

Oh, you'll learn.

You just won't be learning right.

[NightmareMoonFairy]

Not as much as manga, but it can be helpful if you pay attention to details (they way clothes, expression etc. are drawn) =)

[Annie Felis]

No more than watching any other kind of cartoon. I can't say watching Animaniacs as a teenager improved my art. If anything it made me draw people with four-fingered hands for years.

[Smegma Princess]

How do people even find two and a half year old threads to bump them like this?

[Azrael_Uriel]

I actually learn more by looking at other people or myself to help me figure out the human body. Watching anime is fun and sometimes when I'm reading manga I spot features the artist uses that I would like to imitate but most of my drawing help comes from people and tutorials on dev art. xd

[God-the-almighty]

I'd never even heard of anime when I started seriously drawing. I think watching and drawing anime as a beginner has a horrible effect on artistic development. People want to draw a warped form right off the bat without really understanding what they are doing. Also you have the problem of limiting how you use color and seeing things as a flat image. I've also noticed a lot of anime fans divorce the character from the background and it cripples them to some extent.

I'm not saying anime is horrible, I'm saying it doesn't make you a better artist.