Suggestions?

[KumikoTsumi]

Okay, so I have this Art MG class where the teacher is new to the school. My favorite art teacher who was in charge last year retired and now I'm stuck with this teacher, let's call him Bob. Bob is apparently teaching us how to draw cartoon characters. Apparently my anime style does not count as a cartoon. "Look at those eyes, they aren't realistic!" he says, so apparently...http://www.picturesof.net/_images_300/Cartoon_Curly_Haired_Man_with_Big_Eyes_Royalty_Free_Clipart_Picture_081217-023912-214042.jpg these eyes are totally more realistic than these eyes: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/Anime_eye.svg/450px-Anime_eye.svg.png . Hey wait a second, I thought cartoons weren't supposed to look realistic anyway! Anyway, here's my question. I don't really like cartoon eyes, in fact, they look ugly to me. Anybody have a cartoon style that looks "realistic" enough but is still considered "cartoon style"? I'd be really grateful if anybody could help me.

[Merlin]

Okay, so I have this Art MG class where the teacher is new to the school. My favorite art teacher who was in charge last year retired and now I'm stuck with this teacher, let's call him Bob. Bob is apparently teaching us how to draw cartoon characters. Apparently my anime style does not count as a cartoon. "Look at those eyes, they aren't realistic!" he says, so apparently...http://www.picturesof.net/_images_300/Cartoon_Curly_Haired_Man_with_Big_Eyes_Royalty_Free_Clipart_Picture_081217-023912-214042.jpg these eyes are totally more realistic than these eyes: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/Anime_eye.svg/450px-Anime_eye.svg.png . Hey wait a second, I thought cartoons weren't supposed to look realistic anyway!

It's the eyes you're worried about? Those are both equally unrealistic. If it's cartooning, it's more important that the way the eyes are drawn actually matches the style the rest of the body is drawn in. Also I can't post anything remotely helpful about cartoons without linking Loomis, sorry (http://alexhays.com/loomis/). But on the plus side, moving you out of your comfort zone isn't a bad thing.

So that being said... there are so many different styles of cartooning, I don't know how possible it is to pick how you ought to draw one element in isolation.

To answer your question, I can't answer your question. What style are you going for?

Extremely cartoony? Kelly
Cariacature cartoony? Bell
'Realistic' cartoony? Deadpool 3, forget the artist

If you just want to keep drawing your anime style but just change the eyes to avoid this specific criticism, you could just draw the eyes smaller in proportion to the rest of the facial features and block them off a bit more. However that is how I got out of drawing gigantic anime eyes, because I am a hack.
If you're worried about realism, then you could just draw from life. If you're worried about cartooning, then look at a bunch of different styles.

Anyway, here's my question. I don't really like cartoon eyes, in fact, they look ugly to me. Anybody have a cartoon style that looks "realistic" enough but is still considered "cartoon style"? I'd be really grateful if anybody could help me

Then again, I could be overthinking this, so have some classic Batman, drawn by Bob Kane, from April-May 1945.  http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w174/RowReduced/1945.png

Bonus 'realistic' cartoon: Army of One, drawn by Junji Ito. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w174/RowReduced/remina281.jpg



I'm not sure how much this helped!

[Kipiru]

I can relate to your dilemma Kumiko, a while ago I used to draw with the same pseudo-anime eyes(all iris-almost no whites) you do and got critiqued at every turn for it:
http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/6069/24112011296.jpg
http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/6903/24112011297.jpg

So what I did was scale it down- made the iris just a small oval with no detail in it:
http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/7302/24112011298.jpg
http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/3580/24112011299.jpg
That made it possible to close the eye's outlines- your teacher shouldn't be able to pull the "it's not realistic" card on it.
Right now I use a mixture of the two and it works, hopefully such an approach will help you as well in your predicament.  

[KumikoTsumi]

Oh, I see now... well i guess I'll try again... but that teacher will never take anime style away from me! -laughs evilly-  Thanks for everyone's help!

[WhiteFox]

This may or may not be on track, but I do notice something about the examples you gave.

This one might be little more than a circle with a dot, but it does have a hand drawn look that makes it more organic. The design of this one is definitely based on how a real eye looks like, but the lines are stiff and mechanical. While the latter is comparably life like, it's also lifeless. There's no feeling behind it. It's ageless, genderless, and emotionless. There's no personality or character to it, and that's a completely separate thing from how realistic it is.

Another thing might be that using a generic anime style means copying a standard look rather than developing one individually. When I went to art college, the professors liked to see a process of development behind a project. Someone who isn't familiar with anime probably wouldn't be able to pick out personal touches of a style. I really wouldn't blame them, either.

I really can't say anything for certain, though, since I don't have much context or specifics to go on. Is the anime example you gave the exact one that your professor commented was not realistic? Was the cartooning example one that "Bob" provided? I couldn't begin to suggest a cartoon style, since cartoon styles encompass such a broad range of options. What kind of cartoon? Animation? Editorial and caricature? Newspaper comic strips? Graphic novels?

[Arroyo Milori]

I think what your instructor is trying to say is that it doesn't feel personalized in a way. Anyone can just copy a style but developing your own makes one's work unique. However you shouldn't be focusing on the style, but the structure, style comes later and develops as you study more about art.

Cartooning tends to be expressive, both in facial features and body language. However you don't want to over-express or under-express emotions. I do have a nice little guide on some expressions but I would not go solely on this. Art, no matter what kind of art you are trying to go for, is about observation and drawing what you see, not what you think you see.

[Turnsky]

herein lies the thing: there is no one, singular anime 'style' well technically it's "manga" anime just refers to the animated aspect of the form, but that's not key.

What's key is figuring out what you want, the 'big eyes' thing, while one of the hallmarks of the style, isn't the end-all.
This is what separates folks like Katashiro Otomo, Hayao Miyazaki, Akira Toriyama, and Ozamu Tezuka's relative stylings from one another.

offhand i'd say your art prof needs to delve into the cultural diversity of Japanese Manga to honestly appreciate it.

[KumikoTsumi]

The eyes in the cartoon version are the ones that "Bob" drew but as for the anime part...I drew it like in my profile picture. I mixed a few of the techniques and added my own style to it...guess I'll draw it when I get the tablet I want. XD

[WhiteFox]

The eyes in the cartoon version are the ones that "Bob" drew but as for the anime part...I drew it like in my profile picture. I mixed a few of the techniques and added my own style to it...guess I'll draw it when I get the tablet I want. XD

Ah. Yeah, in this case, I'd have to agree with your prof.

[KumikoTsumi]

Well, we'll see how it turns out... 

[Lore]

Personally, I'd try making the eyes a bit more rounded, if that makes sense. The eye you linked: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/Anime_eye.svg/450px-Anime_eye.svg.png has a distinctly square look to it. It's a distinct style of manga/anime that some people really like, but clearly "Bob" is not one of those people. XD Go with what the others said- try making the eyes a bit smaller in proportion to the rest of the face, and like Kip said, try making the irises smaller. Experiment until you find something you like. .

Here's a fairly good example of what I mean with rounding out the eyes.

Honestly, I can relate to the anime-vs-cartoon struggle a lot. I started off drawing anime when I was about your age. I still like it, but I've been trying to stylize it a bit, to put my own spin on it. It's still an ongoing process- but then, I think (hope!) that my art will always be evolving.

For a signifigantly more cartoony look (but one that I happen to like a lot) check out Widdershins. It is, in my opinion, a really good example of cartoon eyes that don't look too ugly/silly.

[KumikoTsumi]

Hmm thanks, I think the eyes on your profile picture look pretty nice though