Fantasy Artist/Monster Designer in need of a Mentor.

[Tarenken]

Hello, I may as well tell you a bit about myself first.

I'm mainly a pixelartist, though I prefer digital art and wish I could do it badly. Whenever I start a digital piece I eventually say 'screw it' and try to do it in pixel. That hardly ever works, either.

I love fantasy art, the kind you look at that screws with your mind, and makes you go "what the crap?" But right now I have absolutely no grasp of perspective so all I can really do is portraits. Those come out bad, too. I've attempted to practice on my own and with the help of websites and such, but nothing has seemed to help.

I also enjoy monster design, but no matter how hard I try, they all come out looking like Pokemon. They're all too 'cute', I guess you could say...

Anyways, I'm looking for a mentor who is experienced in fantasy art (can be realistic or anime, I personally like a combination of both), perspective, and monster design. My MSN is i.love.uboaATgmail.com. Being a good (or at least passable) artist has been my lifelong dream, help me make it come true!

Some examples of recent unfinished things are attached.

[kmoeini]

Hi there,

You have a good start here. I can't be your mentor but I can give you some tips.

First, you should start a sketchbook and put all your work in there. Make a link to the sketchbook in your signature.

I would also suggest you start with pencil and paper, and get a good grasp of the basics then come back to digital.

Many people recommend books by Andrew Loomis because his instructions are solid. Unfortunately, the books are out of print so you will probably have to get them online somewhere.

In your first picture, you show that you have some understanding of where to put highlights and shadows. That's good. Now you need to learn how to make a more gradual transition. Also, the eyes are about one eye-width apart. So I would move the right eye (the eye on our left).

In the second picture, nice job with the highlights and shadows on the face. But there is only one color for the hair. Also, you need to remember that the line for the eyes is about halfway down the head. So you need to redraw the top of the head.

In the third picture, nice job with the characters in red and blue. You are using multiple colors and showing shadows from the candle. You need to do the same with the other 2 characters.

Hope that helps. Keep practicing, and date your work so that you can come back to it from time to time and see the progress you're making.

Kevin