Twillusion wrote...
I draw the eyes first, then the hair, then the face, then the body.
I don't draw the 'skeletons' of the characters.
This is the worst thing you could ever do. Working from the detail to the big picture ends up wrong 95% of the times. Especially when you lack experience in what you're drawing.
Try to first draw the general shape of what you pictured in your mind, and then gradually include the details. Sure, you can add details without having layed out the big picture, but you should at least have done that to the part you're adding detail to, so that it doesn't end up looking weird with the rest of the drawing.
No need to go for a skeleton frame like Juggle suggests, but at least draw the general shapes of the several parts of the body, like the head, the torso, the arms, etc.
Of course, just knowing this will not shift the way of doing things overnight. We all will go or have already went through that phase. And sooner or later your way of drawing things on paper will correct itself, so don't stress about it too much.
Just keep drawing.
ps: I still do the same mistake quite often when I'm sketching on paper, it's involuntary. I end up getting so involved in a detail that I forget how it should look with the rest of the picture.
This leads me to something you ask for: advice. As you know, in drawing there are no shortcuts. There is no way to instantly know how to draw, and that's just how it works. And it's tough. It's all about dedication and persistence. But there are ways to make the learning process faster.
> Take close attention to various drawing styles. Watch various animes, mangas, comics, everything. Study how people draw and try to do it yourself. And I don't mean tracing.
> Whenever you don't know how to draw something, like say, a side view of a shoe, find some visual reference of it. It's extremely easy to find reference pictures on Google pictures. Or you could also find a shoe of yours and use it as reference. Reference is everywhere, we just have to look for it and use it.
> Force yourself to draw. Probably the toughest one, but you gotta do it sometimes in order to improve or get over a slump.
> Get good tools, they can make the world of difference. Get yourself a nice sharp mechanical pencil, some white rubbers, a blank paper sketch book and it'll do you a lot better. And then there's all kinds of things to use depending on what you want to do. Black markers, colored markers, watercolors, digital tablets, etc.
> Catalog your progress by saving all of your sketch books. By constantly looking back you'll be able to see your progress and it can be really motivational.
And that's all I can think of at the moment.
Regarding your drawings, I can see a lot of inexperience. But like I said before, with some dedication (nothing extreme like drawing 10 characters a day. Just one a day is fine), you will improve a lot in no time.