Don't use white for tears. Real tears are transparent, and long trails of tears don't equal deep emotion, utilize facial expression and body posture.
Study proportion, torsos too short, hands too small, etc, throw a viewer off. An easy way to see if your drawing is in proportion is to flip the image, or the old-school method, look at it in a mirror.
Don't rush to finish, ie: spend all your time on texture and detail before you've worked out the design. All the colour and texture in the world won't save a picture that's badly drafted.
BACKGROUNDS - use them. These ground a figure in it's space, if you don't define a background, define the borders, sharpening the design so the work doesn't float (or look unfinished, like student work)
Use photos only as reference, as a starting point, tracing over images does not teach you how to see and then render an image with emotion or a unique style, so that when people see your work it stands out because it expresses not only the character but the artist.
Study proportion, torsos too short, hands too small, etc, throw a viewer off. An easy way to see if your drawing is in proportion is to flip the image, or the old-school method, look at it in a mirror.
Don't rush to finish, ie: spend all your time on texture and detail before you've worked out the design. All the colour and texture in the world won't save a picture that's badly drafted.
BACKGROUNDS - use them. These ground a figure in it's space, if you don't define a background, define the borders, sharpening the design so the work doesn't float (or look unfinished, like student work)
Use photos only as reference, as a starting point, tracing over images does not teach you how to see and then render an image with emotion or a unique style, so that when people see your work it stands out because it expresses not only the character but the artist.