Broken Angel (nudity)

[XaXona]

Um, hi there. ^.^ this is my first art post here... I'm a little discouraged though because Everything here is so awstriking and I don't feel as if I am good enough to post.

HOWEVER, I decided to show off my piece called Broken Angel, because I am so amazingly proud of it. It is the very first thing I half done completely on the computer from sketch to finish.

It took me about 50 hours over a course of a month.

Let me Add the important quote that goes with it, which I would have put on the actual picture itself but did not have the heart in fear of skrewing it up:

"If I were an Angel, like he always said I was, then I was a fallen angel... naked and bleeding in the mud with broken wings and feathers fallen..."

So, any comments would be greatly appriciated!

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/5916998/

(sorry you may have to copy and paste! ><)
XaXona

[::EPIC::]

The requested URL http://www.deviantart.com/vdeviation/5916998 was not found on this server.

try again :)

[XaXona]

Thanks... my comp is freaking out cause I had too many programs open... but it should be fixed now! ^.^

[davi]

this thread was moved.
you may only post images in the finally finished section, not urls to external links.

[XaXona]

Originally posted by Yutani


(looks at the image)
This is a joke, right?

*glare* And what the hell is that supposed to mean?

[donschi]

i think the joke is that it took you 50 hours, that's a long time for such a pic.
Looks like a 10 - 20 minutes sketch for me.

[XaXona]

Maybe for someone who has done stuff like it before. I've NEVER done anything completely in Painter before. A lot went into it.

[nil]

wow, that full view is effing HUGE. my advice would be to post a smaller size. oh, and draw from life.

btw, this isnt devart, you shouldnt expect ass-pat here.

[5-0]

not to sure about this one,

i agree with nil, this place aint deviant art, many professionals and talented people are on these boards. With deviant art they say that just about every peice shown is great, when really about 75% are complete boll*cks

I would continue to practice, but there is no way this couldve taken 50 hours. If any one persisted on one image for 50 hours it should look utterly brilliant, this one looks okay,

keep at it, dude.

[Swoop]

I too think 50 hours sounds like overkill. Perhaps say 5 hours, given that new to painter ect. But 50 hours thats alot of time. I mean you would have to redo the imge quite alot of times really to get that much time use,...

Your image is good, but coudl of course use more work. I think you need to work on blending your colors, and keep the brown shadow lines (along the blood) more realistic and not just spattered on.
The shadow lines should be either fhinner or blended a little.
The blood looks like you just spattered some random skratchy marks, and not like you actually had a vision for the blood ;(

Try and use "just add water" for blending the colors into each other, and im sure you in just a ½ hour will have a much much more varied color selection and better image...

UPDATE:
I took your image and spent like 20 mins just using basically digital airbrush for refining some lines, and "just add water" brush for blending some details. I dont know if it helped you but here is what i got, just to show the effect of a simple but usefull brush ;) BTW when drawing outlines try using a hard edged brush, instead of a feathered brush. And also switching the brush size to smaller sizes will get some more detail for you ;)

http://www.reflection-design.dk/temp/angel1.jpg

[leestuartx]

i could see how it took you 50 hours, it took about 40 hours just to load in my browser. Good job, you've got some dedication. You should probably consider working at smaller res until you grasp the fundamentals (not to sound like an ass) and maybe work on something that doesn't have anything to do with "nudity" unless its good... because horribly drawn breasts are scary!

[darth massacre]

Just gotta keep working on it. Besides, everyone right about the resolution. Too damn big. I work on 300 dpi and its already uncomfortable (ok maybe I should get a bigger monitor). Grasp your fundamentals right before moving on. Anatomy, Composition and so on.

I hope you can accept the critique's dished out here though. I think a number of folks here are professional artists who do it for a living, myself included. An artist must see failure, or critique as what's lacking in him/herself and strive to improve. Who doesn't like praises and applauses? But life isn't as sweet and the path of an artist is even harder.

I would like to see you come back and post again, and again, and again....practicing is the only way to improve....practicing the RIGHT WAY will help you move faster....loads of folks here who have vast experience to seek advice from. :D

[Swoop]

Yeah.. critique can sometimes be hard to take, but you just gotta force yourself to take it construcivly and use the feedback to help improve... like take a few months ago i couldt draw a lifelike eye, or head for that matter, and using some simple tutorials and lots and lots or practive i personally think i'm getting alot better.

Though the first couple of posts with sketches and lineart where hard to get posted, because of fear of criticism, and also seeing how awsome some people work ;)

But just accept that it's a process and you will have to take the long road no matter what, and it all works out okay :D

[XaXona]

Thank you for the information and the help. This is the stuff i hoped for because I want to learn and I want to get better. And *trust* me, i know this isn't DA... I actually hate DA for the exact reason that people say crap like "sweet" "cool"... and other things... I hate it.

Swoop, I love what you did with the hair highlights. How did you get that effect, was it with the water? That hair highlight is one that I have been trying to figure out... (which is one of the reason's this took me so long). Which brush did you use or change to?

leestuartx, lol yes... I will take the res into consideration... or at least i will lower it to put up on the net.

Thank you again, everyone for your input and i will definately work with what you guys have said.

XaXona

[Swoop]

I just used "just add water brush" on a low size, and went along the already white you painted. That way i get that streaked line blending from the white to black...

Also i reccomend you use a HARD edged brush for blocking out shapes and outlines. Because you are using a pretty big brush for stuff like the hands, which makes it looks kinda bad. Try using a smaller and hard edged brush, and then afterwards blend ind the shades so you dont make outlines of the knuckles but define them by using shadow.

The trick i think is to get shapes defined using only shadows and not lines as comics tend to do :D

But keep working and glad i could help ;)

[XaXona]

oh perfect! Thank you! I'll try that next time I work.

And also, I did fix the size for the most part and it makes my computer a lot faster when I try to work on it. :3

Thanks again, Swoop.

XaXona

[Luke Mrozek]

How could it be that you needed 50h to create it when it looks like it has been done in 10 minutes or less, that one thing, second thing is...PLEASE be more critique for Yourself, there will be very long road ahead of You to create someting relly good.

(BTW - Just realized, 50h is more than i need to paint a book cover...)

Luke

[QSeptember5]

Wow. How vain of all of you to criticize his skill level rather than the quality of his work. Take as long as you need, man. Regardless of the quality of the work, spending 50 hours shows dedication. Keep at it.

[QSeptember5]

Acknowledge what? Acknowledge the fact that you pretty much told him that he shouldn't even try anymore? I suggest you acknowledge that this forum isn't for criticizing the skill of the artist, but the quality of his work, like I said before. Howard Stephen Berg reads somewhere over 20,000 words per minute, by your standards, I guess anyone that can't read that quickly should just stop reading. "It's inadequate." That is the most ignorant logic I've heard in a while, so don't condescend to me.

[QSeptember5]

I'm done talking to you. Look, XaXona, don't listen to a damn person that tells you that your final product isn't worth the time put into it. It's worth it. Whether it takes you 10 minutes, 50 hours, or the rest of your life, it's worth it.

[Swoop]

XaXona


I would like to help you a little more:d
In the future if you are having difficoulties with some parts of the image, instead of spending vast amounts of time by yourself trying to fix it, post a WIP of the image (work in progress) and lets us give some imput.

I mean instead of sitting by yourself using 20 hours toi get some effect, ask and see if you cant spare the 19 hours because somebody might have an awsome idea of how to get it done ;)

[leestuartx]

XaXona, Swoop is right about volunteering to mentor you, mainly so you don't have to struggle so much. Actually, dedication is something that I believe goes a long way in this field, and speed and skill come with practice. I suggest just freestyling the tools over and over again in small proportions, and if you learn the keyboard shortcuts you may eventually subtract 50% of the necessary time to finish a project. Learn the univeral keyboard shortcuts like ctrl+o(open) , ctrl+n(new), ctrl+c(copy) , ctrl+v(paste), and all the other miscellaneous keyboard shortcuts like M(magnify), W(magic wand), R(rectangular selection marquee), etc. My technique at learning a program is learn what the program can do, where the tools are located, memorize the shortcuts, and then proceed to create practice projects that don't have any meaning to you. If you plan on making quality work, and you want to learn the fastest possible way, visualize the steps in your head before you begin painting. Always use reference material before you make a final, most importantly because your a beginner and you need to train your memory to understand dimensions. Eventually work out a color scheme, and enforce that on a larger image. As you get better at determining how to manage your time and how long it should take to achieve the desired effect, you'll eventually be telling yourself, "Hey, I can make anything!" Of course thats the future and don't stray to far into the fantasy. The way I see it, since you are a beginner, try to limit your images to a maximum of 1 hour. Make image after image and if you don't finish a particular image then thats perfectly ok. Work anything you desire to draw, but try to finish in less then an hour. A 50 hour project is similar to one you should be facing for your class final, so if it takes more than an hour trash the image(don't actually trash it just set it aside). When you get better you can look over your old drawings and see why 50 hours isn't something to brag about. In reality, 50 hours is equivalent to $350 worth of pay at $7 an hour. Each hour you spend is an investment, either to the goodness of your soul or to a great amount of money that you hope to get. So for my sum, I suggest focusing on the training techniques before making final pieces so you don't find yourself in your mid-40's bewildered without a job or a place to stay. I'm just lookin out for you thats all brotha'

[XaXona]

First, Thank you QSeptember5 for supporting me. I'm glad you feel that way, though I definately see were everyone is coming from. I mean, I've been hanging around the boards for the last month just about and every time I see someone post their amazing drawing and say it only took 20 minutes I about die, because I can't comprehend how they did it. (Oh, and don't bother arguing with Yutani because he always seems to have the last word no matter what you try and say... It's useless.) I can handle crits just not ones that practicly outright laugh at me... Explaining what's wrong and offering a suggestion I CAN handle, which is why I really appriciate everyone who has done that. Again, though, Thank you for sticking up for me. (BTW, I could care less whether anyone calls me a girl or a guy. Makes no difference to me, though it seems that there are primarily guys here.)

To Swoop and leestuartx, Thank you very much (again and again) for actually sitting down and helping me out. I will definately do the things you've suggested to me. I would much rather get better and quicker than stay were I'm at and still take a million hours. I will definately do the hour practicing thing, because I see how it will help me... though, it will be amazingly tough since I've NEVER spent just an hour on an entire piece of art... ^.^ I'm going to have a lot of unfinished ones. Thank you again.

[XaXona]

Originally posted by Yutani

I stronlgy suggest you take advise people give you here and not raise a fuss next time someone crits you.

(Though I know it's useless...) But if you didn't notice, I have been very greatful to those who gave crits and I am taking thier advice. YOU however, did not give a crit and advice. YOU gave me a laugh in the face and a kick in the bum. That helped me in no way but feel discouraged. In your own way perhaps you thought you were helping... But thank you.

XaXona

[Swoop]

one of the cool things in art is that it's a trade you can learn :D

Just stick with it, participate in the Daily Sketch Group is a great idea i think, because you get the topic thoosen, and there is no pressure for making something awsome.

One thing i had a problem with in the beginning was posting stuff that didnt look like some professional did it. However the qucik sketches can have it's charm and a cool look also :D

Just dont be afraid to post WIP and get critique above sitting in with drawings and never showing them :D show it all.. even what you think is bad.. perhaps some parts are awsome :D

[nil]

shutup and draw. the lotta ya.

:chug:

[INFERNOmunky]

...

[leestuartx]

It didn't only take 20 minutes, you have to include all the months or years practice to achieve that quality and speed. It should be "This image took 20 minutes + 3 years training" for example. Which is equivalent to around 2000 hours a year, which may up being 6,000 hours practice over 3 years.

This is how I figure Hours spent:

Hours spent each day * days in a year * years spent
(6 * 365 * 3) = 6000
Ofcourse this is only an estimate since many people neglect to work every day of the year, but in your case I don't think you spent as much time drawing as many other individuals. Don't feel stressed and behind though, the distance between making good images and achieving mastery skill is much different. You may wake up one day with the skill to draw and an understanding of how it works and thats what you call a miracle. ok, um BEGIN!!

[Zeb]

I second what nil said...

[leestuartx]

Someone needs a lesson in manners

Why don't you shut your face, im trying to teach.

:fight:

XaXona, Keep your mind open when you draw; focus and attempt proper technique, manage your time, don't waste time, read, study, draw, don't forget to socialize or else you'll regret it, don't accept failure, study those shortcuts, work in smaller resolution, mimic other images, don't get too depressed. :beer:

http://www.pixelalley.com/tutorials/P7_Keyboard_Guide.pdf

[XaXona]

I never thought of it like that, leestuartx...

And thank you for the shortcut guide. ^.^ That's helpful!

I won't give up, for sure. Thank you so much for helping me and I will work on the things you've said.