AMKitsune: @FistHombre: The fact that you're planning on keeping drawing already means that your on the path to success! With every new picture comes improvement, even if it's at a rate that you can't see it. As far as critique goes, anatomically speaking, you'll want to pay extra close attention to a characters shoulders, hips and overall proportions. I say this because humans are very good at recognising other humanoid forms (as we grow up with them all around us and see them on a near daily basis), but that also means we're very good at noticing when there's something not 'quite right' with one (proportion wise). A bit like when playing with the face settings in any modern game's character creator, there's very little middle ground between what looks 'acceptably human' and what looks strangely 'off'. Especially with things suck as eye distance and torso length when compared to other limbs.

When drawing humanoid characters, it might be worth having a google image search page full of pictures of people open to help you get a better idea of how different poses should look.
Of course, for cartoony characters like this, you've got far more artistic license to play around with the proportions.
Basically, don't worry too much about your drawings not looking as 'good' as other more experienced artists. Most of the 'better' character pictures out there have quite accurate anatomy and with time and practice, that's something that'll become more and more intuitive to you.
Again though, in your picture here, you've done a good job. Just have a look at some pictures of characters from another artist who's work you like and see how they form things like shoulders and hips. The more you see and actively pay attention to these body parts, the easier you should find drawing them.

@Arcsome: The phrase "Juice box" sounds more adorable to me than it probably should (we tend to just call them cartons over here). That combined with the mental image of an adorable Sleeps-Darkly holding a little carton of apple juice or something similar made me squee more than I probably should have XD

Tahrey: something something DETERMINATION

FistHombre: @AMKitsune: Thank you! I've always liked cartoony styles, but I feel like it might be a good idea to get a better grip of realism and more accurate anatomy/structure before working more stylized. I totally get when people say that you should just keep drawing and enjoy yourself as opposed to forcing yourself to practice certain aspects, but I don't know, I'm a bit conflicted. I get the feeling that you might end up learning to draw in a 'wrong way'.

A friend of mine who's an experienced artist said ''if you don't learn to draw realistically first there's a chance that ones drawing ends up inbred, it doesn't look quite right''. Anywho thanks for the advice, I'll keep in mind to look at bodies from other perspectives as I'm noticing I have a tendency to draw characters from the same angle.

Armored-Struggle-Wagon: @Tahrey: something something TERMINATION

Arcsome: @AMKitsune: lol, I just want to pinch her little face.

FistHombre: @Arcsome: I'm going to keep practicing and keep that juice box in mind, MAYBE ONE DAY

Tahrey: ASW: THE Termination?

Arcsome: @FistHombre: you can only get better if you keep practicing. ☺

AMKitsune: @FistHombre: If you draw for your own pleasure, you might very well be better off drawing what you want, when you want and making slow progress than 'forcing' yourself to develop and turning the whole process into a chore. I can't speak about what's important for professional artists, but as a hobbyist, your enjoyment of the process is the most important thing. Not only because your happiness is the most important result of your art, but also because the happier the whole process makes you feel, the more inclined you'll be to do it again and again. Practice makes perfect and practice is so much easier when it's something you enjoy doing.
Again, other people will have different views on the matter and these views all have some degree of value and validity to them.
Basically, just go about it however feels the best to you, and try not to let your expectations of how your preconception of a 'real artist' would do things steer you into uncomfortable territory.

It's true that learning by 'traditional means' is a valid route to 'good' art, but it's by no means the only one.

Tahrey: ^ this

fanarts of something you like, either in your own style or trying to ape the original, are all well and good, but trying to force it one way or the other is a road to ruin and needless self loathing because it's not coming out perfectly like the way some other person did it. Everyone has their own style which develops fairly organically, outside of some basic practice and theory acquisition.

Geravind: Вау, какая няша! :3

CaptainLackwit: whoa, I really like her eyes.

RoninSmall: Опана, годната приехала!

Радиан, порадовал!

Radian: @RoninSmall: Сейчас еще порадую ;)

RoninSmall: @Radian: Радиан не оставляет мне выбора. Придется сидеть дома и смотреть пикчи с Катей

AMKitsune: The lighting and pose work so well in this. Really fantastic stuff :D

Ritter: Soooo sexy :o

Tahrey: Still waiting for an actual film about a female secret agent who works this kind of way, rather than being a crossgendered Bond/Bourne/Indy expy (Salt, Hanna, Lara)...

Well, at least, one that isn't actually a thinly disguised porno, or an ensemble/novelty piece like RED...

angrybacteria: @Tahrey: What kind of way are you really looking for?

Just wondering, are your referencing Garrett's style mentioned in the first comment? Or something entirely different?

Tahrey: I have no idea what that is, as I didn't watch the video the first time, it went into a loooooooooooooooooong unskippable ad when I clicked it just now (so I didn't bother waiting), and I've never played or seen that much of Thief but AFAICT it's not what I meant.

I'm meaning actually more feminine (without being a sissy/damsel/whatever - more yer noire femme fatale or whatever) and giving more an impression of having been written for an actress rather than having a script turn up for a burly action dude and someone going "hey what if we make it a woman to make it a bit different on the cheap" > Ctrl-F, replace, repeat repeat.

Though Salt did come quite close without quite making it 100%, and it looks like the newer Tomb Raider games might do.

...maybe I was just having a bit of a hormonal moment, IDK. Especially as I was about to add that a section similar to that Khajiit Thief animation, complete with rainbow 6 style stealth outfit, would be a cute touch.

tl;dr --- a movie about the Bond Girl / Bourne's Unwitting Accomplice / etc (maybe or maybe not featuring an actual Bond/Bourne/etc expy as a side character), instead of that guy himself. Particularly where said BG is one of those who was herself a secret agent from a different team or the like.

Weirdly enough Goldeneye had a little of that I think. I'm now wondering how much footage you could get from a supercut of Natalya being quietly badass/pretend-secret-agenty, maybe enough to put a fake movie trailer voice and "coming soon" titles over the top?

Bluh: YOU GOT THIS KATIA!

Mediocre_Scrublord: (she really doesn't)

Bluh: Oh and it should be Strife, not Fight. :P

Lekisceon: Omg the tags... xD

Mediocre_Scrublord: Oh man I feel so happy that someone noticed the tags.
thanks mate

Man_Of_Mer: Do a hyper combo! Then tag out with Quill Weave!

Higuera: (5 seconds later)
Katia/this asshole
0/1

Armored-Struggle-Wagon: Cue Boss fight music! (Complete with HP bar fill SFX)

princessBonny: Oh dear me no but that's cute..

reiler12: Asotil: FOR THE JUSTICE.

Sheogorath: NIEC NIEC!

VashTheStampede: Adorable.
Also, don't worry. It's just the blood of Criminal Scum.

Which is still bad, because killing, but you get the idea.

Skoon: OTP

Tahrey: What's so funny, you two?

Armored-Struggle-Wagon: Oh my goodness this is adorable! (Especially the blushy one :3)

BadReligion: There is a "pencil_drawing" tag? Oh lawd...

@Armored-Struggle-Wagon: It gave me heart attack. ;__;

Armored-Struggle-Wagon: @BadReligion: A good (death by adorableness) heart attack, or a bad (regular, unleaded death) one?

BadReligion: @Armored-Struggle-Wagon: A good one.

Tahrey: CAPTAIN! MY ADORBSOMETER JUST WENT CLEAR OFF THE SCALE!

Tahrey: I particularly like the warm tones achieved by using orange as a shadow colour for yellow, the smudgy smoke, and the general use of paperwhite highlighting. Someone knows what they're about.

Ja_Jarsha_Rovandi: What? Text? No text here, no sir, not at all. Just an ordinary wooden bookshelf filled with ordinary human books.

Geravind: Congratulations! Now that one thinks like a witchhunter.

merumeng: Did he glue the K's together?
unless they're super heavy on one side.
I wanna know what that blue book is called o.O

Tahrey: Aint no ruie aganst cooi 8ook stacks? :)

Antariplex: @Ja_Jarsha_Rovandi:

Aggy can't spell.:

http://imgur.com/QMX2tyU

Man_Of_Mer: This is what if like to aim for in my work. Emphasizing movement, using the body to it's full extent; this is what I want in my work. Keep it up my good sir, keep it up.

Compound: i used spiderman as a reference, his moves are rather exaggerated; how i imagine a panicking Katia would bail.

Zokva: preety dope design

Tahrey: sweeeeeeeeet

Man_Of_Mer: Someone had to do it, so I did what I could. Feel free to add the artists in the tags.

CaptainLackwit: I really like the one SomeDork did. Love the hair- dude can draw hair.

Man_Of_Mer: I feel the same.

ShroomBot: The KillerFishSG one looks really cute...

ShroomBot: KillerFishSG and SomeDork's are the best.
Not that the other ones arn't awesome as well.

yugijak: YUS.

Tahrey: What's with the crazy error-diffusion?

Anyway, Gold to SomeDork (reminds me of Heimdall, or maybe some other vikingy thing I saw somewhere), joint Silver to CptLackwit, POMA and KFSG (the latter is somewhat Ghibliesque, oddly), honourable Bronze to tronn because I want to see that zip opened. Respect to all entrants.