Yellow Cake SB , criticism appreciated

[uranusgodself]

Well, after years of off again on again relationship with visual art, I am going to try to give it a go for real. I am starting this sketch book with the intention of updating regularly and hopefully getting feedback that will help me improve. Right now i generally work in pencil, then ink, then computer color. I currently have no scanner, but I do have a digital camera. (Does anyone have tips for photographing a sketch book in a way it doesn't look all gray?) I have a wacom tablet on my christmas list, so hopefully that is where I'm going.

Here are the first couple things I have done, since joining the forum. The first is a robot with roots for moisture extraction when moving through clouds. (DSG 1432) It was hand colored with half tone brush markers and photo retouching pens and then the cloud and lighting effects were done in computer. I like it in general, except for how flat it looks. I want to work on making my typically flat drawings look more dynamic. I should have defined the clouds more, as well.

The second is a sketch of the Marvel Comics character Karnak, who I like to draw. (His head is meant to be tall) The legs feel too big, but in checking proporions i can't figure out why. I suppose they are too big around. Really rough. He also looks more like he is stretching rather than striking a fighting pose, and he is off balance.

[uranusgodself]

I want to do a piece on the Cipactli, (wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cipactli)). It is a giant Aztec fish-crocodile-god with an extra mouth at every joint. It swam the oceans before there was land and then a different god subdued it and made Cipactli into the land that we live on. Here is a concept sketch of what I thought it should look like along with a stylized version and a color experiment (my first digital painting experiment messing with opacity). Mine has its extra mouths above and below it's head and on its knees and ankles. The top-of neck-mouth opens when it looks down and the bottom-of-neck-mouth opens when it looks up. There head is confusing because it is drawn in a different perspective from the rest.

I want to take this concept and make a piece where the viewer is under water and this thing is kind snaking its huge body through the water towards the viewer. I want the point of view to be from underneath the beast, but not by much and I want it to seem distant but still big. I am having trouble figuring out where to put the horizon line and where to set the vanishing points. I am ok at making rectangular solids in perspective but it is much harder for me to do something like this. I included some of my takes on trying to do the perspective here, but in general i feel like the viewer is farther down than I am trying for, as well as too close to the creature.

I feel like the 3rd perspective sketch is the closest but it still feels too close, too small and a little too high. How high should my horizon line be? To get a distant feel, should the vanishing points be farther apart, or closer together? what do i need to do to bring the creature a little closer to the horizon? Bring the lines from the vanishing point lower? Also any tips or criticisms on the anatomy would be helpful. Thank you to anyone who has suggestions.

[uranusgodself]

Here are some thumbnails

1-hopping a fence
2-graphitti
3-falling from very high above a city
4-covered in birds
5-posing near stopsign

[uranusgodself]

DSG 1433 cyber prince with mechanical facial lobes