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realism is pretty hard to do. mainly because we draw icons subconsciously without meaning too. this is a very good example of this. one good way to try and forget this is to try and either completley forget about what it is your drawing (so draw negative space, mainly concentrate on shapes of shadows angles etc and how they all fit together) or turn the picture upside down and draw that again trying to remove yourself from what it actually is.

the eyes are too large but they are placed well on the face. itd be really nice to see some contrast with your line too. you can pretty much describe all the shadows on a face just with gradated line if your clever. also try a more dynamic pose and draw shadows. always keep looking back at your drawing to see how close it is to whatever your drawing.

keep it up though thats a better start then most to realism!

That is exactly what I was thinking. My art teacher called it the symbol system. Say you are drawing a hand. You mind already has a set picture of a hand to take from you memory, therefore abstracting your picture ways in which you did not intend. She had us do exercises like blind contour and drawing pictures upside down to get away from the symbol system. I suggest that you search ways of getting away from the symbol system to help you with realism. It can only help. Great attempt though. Much better than my first one.

if you can find drawing on the right hand side of the brain, buy it. that book taught me how to draw. not just realism but anime and american style too. everything comes down to being able to draw and remove yourself from the content and just let yourself draw whats actually there biggrin
i was truly truly crap before i read that book.

http://ll221.deviantart.com/art/the-quest-for-improvement-39086971

the first drawing is before id read the book and been muddling about for a few years on my own trying to just draw manga. the other one id read the book and done some life drawing etc and is 4 years later. im better now mind but hey its a reallly fun thing to do to see yourself improve