Is this how i should be studying?

[pine whale]

Someone told me i should start studying art by looking at real life, photos and stuff, but i never really studied for like, ANYTHING in my life, so idk how ot study art! so i grabbed a photo and started to copy it, everything i could notice, and i tried copying a few photos of people's notebooks, where they have notes about the sketch they have and i tried doing that, i don't really understand the reason for it, i just wrote what i had in mind looking at the reference. someone please help me with specifics? 🥺

(and sorry for the terrible cursive, that's just how i write )

[solar mirage]

It’s good to note down details like you did! At your level i think this is very helpful and you should continue attempting to copy references like this, however a good thing to get into is trying to understand the “line of motion” in a pose. Basically summarising the “flow” of a pose in a singular line that runs down the body and draw the post based on that.

For real life refs its great to try and break down the form instead of copying each line/body part 100% accurately

To answer the questions, the “gills” are actually her ribcage. The shadow is where it’s at because the light is coming from the right side, so her whole body is blocking the light from her back. And the dip in the elbow is just the skin dipping into the shape of them arm bones :)

Its great to also study actual anatomical guides to better understand the human body !

Might be a broken record saying this but its crucial to know the “rules” of the human body before stylising it if you’re a beginner

[pine whale]

is this better? i tried following th eline of motion from the original pic and focused more in breaking it down

[solar mirage]

Yes!! This is much better n i really enjoy ur notes

[pine whale]

i finally did something right, this could make a grown man cry

but i won't

[solar mirage]

LOL