Learning 2D Art

If you want to, try and find some good drawing tutorials. Share them with everyone else as well.

Drawing characters
The fundamental thing about doing art, is that you have to be sketching a lot to become good at it.

One thing to understand about character design, is that they are essentially made up of components resembling beans.

You can use this for reference: http://profspevack.com/archive/animation/tech_support/images/character_dev/character_shapes.jpg

Characters' proportions are usually defined by their head count: http://www.zebtoonz.com/index_htm_files/527.jpg The more "heads tall" the character is, the more of an adult they are.

If you are struggling with facial expressions and eyes, here are a few references for you to use:

https://andrewduffycca.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/50_facial_expressions_and_how_to_draw_them-20071207-075359.jpg

or just google "character expressions" and you'll get plenty of other references.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Rz3TgIIBsDg/Tphml7Fty8I/AAAAAAAAAVo/P1nvGry8wkg/s640/Manga+Eyes+%25281%2529.jpg or just google "character eyes" and you'll get plenty of other references. You can do the same thing for character mouths and such.

Always draw guidelines as to where the eyes should be, as well as the middle of the face, as such: http://curkovicartunits.pbworks.com/f/character%20angles.jpg

Don't try to draw your character in one go. Rather, sketch the body shape, then sketch the arms, etc. Once you are happy with the overall shape and body proportions, start adding a little bit of detail to it and refine it. Try to add some features that make the character more unique, make him stand out and suggest something about his personality.

Vector graphics and Inkscape
Once you are happy with your rough sketch, it's time to bring it into the computer. Take a picture of it, or, ideally, scan it in. Open it up in a program such as Inkscape and create a new layer on top. Now use the path tool to draw the contours of your character. If you will want to animate it later, you want to "ink" in different body parts on different layers.

If you have never used a vector graphics package such as Inkscape, you can learn the basic user interface here: https://inkscape.org/en/learn/tutorials/

Most important for this part of your character is the tutorial on Paths: https://inkscape.org/doc/advanced/tutorial-advanced.html but I do recommend going through all of them.