hello everyone C: I've been at least a week without internet :D XD
and I still don't have internet, plus real life has been absorbing me completely.

however today I come to show you as the title of this post mentions, the importance of seeing references before drawing anything.

I wouldn't call myself an art pro, but I certainly advance fast when it comes to learning.

BEFORE

Well when I started to do the lips of this character the first thing I thought was:

pffftt I know how to do lips ...

e.e and theeeeeeeen... I ran into many problems, AHAAJHAJJJ I didn't know how to do them, what shape, thicc or not, the expression, at least not the style of lips I wanted for this character, and thaaaaaaat's when I made the first mistake.

And I'm talking about when I was still just doing some things for the face, fixing the body and the shadows. ... did I mention that I hate semi realism? I have a toxic relationship with this style but for some reason my clients like the way I work... anyway I didn't see references and started to draw directly which resulted in a

waste of time,

important time, while I could have finished this relatively fast, here I am, but well we all learn from our mistakes don't we...?

I looked for references about lips, the different expressions and shapes, I was looking for something that looked flirtatious, and I think I got it:
when I finish the drawing I will publish the photos of the whoole process because to save memory and space at the moment of working I am merging the layers when I get the desired result.

I leave you with some captures of the lips, see you next time !