* My Best Works n.n Please Constructive Critisize ! *

[Animecutie23]

I'd like to have the people here at conceptart.org give me as much constructive criticism on the following pieces as they can o.o I can't change the first piece, since it's already inked...but I'll study what I did wrong so I hopefully won't do it again. Please be nice about the constructive criticism though ( which most people here are...it's just at other places people tell me I suck and such and that really doesn't help. ) Thankyou much in advanced ! * patiently waits for any advice *

First Piece: Sesetsenia Nenurikai ( it's her name ) :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Hotaruna/small.jpg


Second Piece: Our Guardian Angels


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Hotaruna/OurGuardianAngels.jpg


Third Piece: Dream


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Hotaruna/Dream.jpg

[dogfood]

I think you're pretty far ahead in at least one important way: you provide your subjects with interest, meaning that they move, flex and twist.

My first piece of advice regards presentation. If it doesn't add to the piece, crop it off. The verbage is fine hanging there if you can't get rid of it, but you can type in any description you feel the viewer needs. Secondly, try not to post any taller than 650 or wider than 800. That will allow the average viewer to see the whole image at a shot. If that removes too much of the detail, provide a link to a higher resolution, or provide extra close-ups of smaller bits.

Now, the pieces themselves show you have a fairly good grasp of anatomy. My main problem is the style. Until you master the right way to do something, style is a crutch, especially anime and comicbook styles. "Oh, it's just the way I do it" is a cop out. You can draw. We can see it. I have to say that the bodies would do much better without the heads. If you want to get better at anime, learn to draw the head properly. You'll find no end to the number of people who will give you advice here if you go that route. If you want to hide behind style, folks will soon get bored at having their advice ignored. I'm not among them, but there are a lot of fantastic artists here who have gone the hard way to get where they are. It took me years to unlearn my comicbook style, but now I can go back to it and am so much more proficient that it boggles my mind. My advice is to draw different things from life; tennis shoes, keys, drinking glasses, reading glasses, everything you draw will help you draw the subjects that sing to your heart so much better.

Trust me.

[Hanuka]

good start!

that was one very proficient and comprehensive crit by dogfood. not much to add. i second everything.

i see your body dynamics are quite advanced and there is a basic knowledge of anatomy. i recommend to go the mentioned hard way. learn detailed anatomy and figure drawing/weighting in general. maybe visit figure drawing classes if you get the opportunity. try to learn from loomis' figure and head drawing books @ www.fineart.sk .
You get the most out of drawing from life, drawing your friends, doing selfportraits or just sketching people in a café.
I guess you started out with copying anime-characters from book and stuff. and that's a good way to start out with art, but you can't learn a lot from it at first. that means, if you don't know the real thing, your can't apply your gathered knowledge of style (in this case anime) to it. you should get back to your desired style, when you know how to draw realistic. you'll see how much youve improved by then.
i hope that makes some sense. my english isnt that good ;)

however, this is just one way of learning something, there's a dozen other ways and things you could improve... it depends on where you want to go. my general suggestions, however: draw from life, do figure drawing and selfportraits.

[Tully]

I'll also put in a word about reference. To make things look real, you don't always have to draw from life (though should draw from life a lot), but what you should do is work from reference if you're trying to draw things that you're unsure about. In this case (and that of many other artists), wings. Get pictures of what you want to draw and learn its structure. Wings aren't twigs with feathers hanging off them. They have muscles, joints, tendons and those feathers are arranged in a very specific way. Same thing goes with everything else. Don't try to go from memory when you don't know how things actually look! For obvious reasons, it's not going to turn out too well.

Dogfood tells it like it is. I agree everything he's said.

[Animecutie23]

I think you're pretty far ahead in at least one important way: you provide your subjects with interest, meaning that they move, flex and twist.

My first piece of advice regards presentation. If it doesn't add to the piece, crop it off. The verbage is fine hanging there if you can't get rid of it, but you can type in any description you feel the viewer needs. Secondly, try not to post any taller than 650 or wider than 800. That will allow the average viewer to see the whole image at a shot. If that removes too much of the detail, provide a link to a higher resolution, or provide extra close-ups of smaller bits.

Now, the pieces themselves show you have a fairly good grasp of anatomy. My main problem is the style. Until you master the right way to do something, style is a crutch, especially anime and comicbook styles. "Oh, it's just the way I do it" is a cop out. You can draw. We can see it. I have to say that the bodies would do much better without the heads. If you want to get better at anime, learn to draw the head properly. You'll find no end to the number of people who will give you advice here if you go that route. If you want to hide behind style, folks will soon get bored at having their advice ignored. I'm not among them, but there are a lot of fantastic artists here who have gone the hard way to get where they are. It took me years to unlearn my comicbook style, but now I can go back to it and am so much more proficient that it boggles my mind. My advice is to draw different things from life; tennis shoes, keys, drinking glasses, reading glasses, everything you draw will help you draw the subjects that sing to your heart so much better.

Trust me.



Thankyou for all the advice, I'll take it into consideration n_n

[Animecutie23]

good start!

that was one very proficient and comprehensive crit by dogfood. not much to add. i second everything.

i see your body dynamics are quite advanced and there is a basic knowledge of anatomy. i recommend to go the mentioned hard way. learn detailed anatomy and figure drawing/weighting in general. maybe visit figure drawing classes if you get the opportunity. try to learn from loomis' figure and head drawing books @ www.fineart.sk .
You get the most out of drawing from life, drawing your friends, doing selfportraits or just sketching people in a café.
I guess you started out with copying anime-characters from book and stuff. and that's a good way to start out with art, but you can't learn a lot from it at first. that means, if you don't know the real thing, your can't apply your gathered knowledge of style (in this case anime) to it. you should get back to your desired style, when you know how to draw realistic. you'll see how much youve improved by then.
i hope that makes some sense. my english isnt that good ;)

however, this is just one way of learning something, there's a dozen other ways and things you could improve... it depends on where you want to go. my general suggestions, however: draw from life, do figure drawing and selfportraits.



I never used books to learn to draw, I just picked it up myself...although I am a fan of anime, so I guess that's where my style originated. I will try and draw from life, and learn to do realistic. I'm trying to do that now, thankyou very much for your comment n_n

[Animecutie23]

I'll also put in a word about reference. To make things look real, you don't always have to draw from life (though should draw from life a lot), but what you should do is work from reference if you're trying to draw things that you're unsure about. In this case (and that of many other artists), wings. Get pictures of what you want to draw and learn its structure. Wings aren't twigs with feathers hanging off them. They have muscles, joints, tendons and those feathers are arranged in a very specific way. Same thing goes with everything else. Don't try to go from memory when you don't know how things actually look! For obvious reasons, it's not going to turn out too well.

Dogfood tells it like it is. I agree everything he's said.


\
Thankyou very much, and I'll use more referances. n_n Thanks!

After awhile I'll print out everyones constructive criticism and advice, and try to adjust my drawings from there. n_n It's all very much appreciated !

[Animecutie23]

I just finished this, it was an art class assignment :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Hotaruna/SmallKittens.jpg

And this is just a little something I did in photoshop earlier... :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Hotaruna/HalfBreed.jpg

[davi]

i do enjoy your linework, you are very stylistic and i think that will work for you in the feature, Your lines are the moment are very scratchy though, hopefully you can work through that over time and become more confident with your strokes.

as for the cat picture, you need to work on your values. You put in the proper values in the eyes but the rest of the picture seems way to soft. Also the basket wasnt' even attempted to be shaded correctly. It looks like a 2d basket and 3d cats.

and for the digital image, it's a good start, but i think your going to need to learn more about lighting and shading without the use of colors first. The overuse of white on the hair makes it look glowly and fake.

i hope i've given you a helpful eye at your work instead of discouraging you. Your style is good, and i do honestly hope to see you progress it, so keep it up!

[Animecutie23]

i do enjoy your linework, you are very stylistic and i think that will work for you in the feature, Your lines are the moment are very scratchy though, hopefully you can work through that over time and become more confident with your strokes.

as for the cat picture, you need to work on your values. You put in the proper values in the eyes but the rest of the picture seems way to soft. Also the basket wasnt' even attempted to be shaded correctly. It looks like a 2d basket and 3d cats.

and for the digital image, it's a good start, but i think your going to need to learn more about lighting and shading without the use of colors first. The overuse of white on the hair makes it look glowly and fake.

i hope i've given you a helpful eye at your work instead of discouraging you. Your style is good, and i do honestly hope to see you progress it, so keep it up!


You have a good eye, I wasn't really attempting to do the basket ._. but that's cuz I got rushed towards the end, I'm turning it into tommorrow and I still had mathematics work to do. Thanks for the CC...it helps. I'll do extensive studies in shading with greys and such, but I like to work in color too...the digital painting only took about an hour, so it's not really very impressive. ( and I see where your coming from on the hair thing ._.;; ) if I have time tommorrow I'll try and add in darker tones for the kitties ( I was trying to get the drawing to look as identical to the photo as possible.... ) do you know any place that would have good black and white photo examples so I can study the shading and such ? Thanks again n.n !

[Evil_Sloth]

When drawing your figures, always think about if that pose looks real, just looking at people around you and remembering how they stand, sit etc will make your characters look alot better then solid poses.
Goto www.polykarbon.com and click on his tutorials from sum great anime and overall figure drawing help.
Hope this helps. ;)

[Animecutie23]

Thankyou n.n


Anyone else have any pointers to give me on my works ? I'd like to improve the pieces as best I can ._.;; please?

[Animecutie23]

Anybody want to give me any indept constructive criticism on the anatomy or clothing of the penciled works ? I'd like to adjust them and make them the best I can ._.;