The "Serious Business" Critque Thread- Art

I like your coloring style a lot , but I do have to mention that the yellow on your hair do look very similar to the yellow on the clothing and it kinda imbalances the attention, hope it helps. Nothing wrong with the "ribbon" style. The face needs a bit more reds and green to feel more alive. That being said it was an awesome pice, you are better painter than me.

I would like some opinions on this piece, despite it's views I am quite surprised on the lack of comments on it.

here it is

edited 1st Oct '14 2:36:44 PM by RPGLegend

Actually I think the colour scheme with the hair and dress works well *shrug*

Personally I'd find it a bit too artificial looking, if you weren't going for artificiality. Maybe feathering the edges of the locks out might help, or making the edges of the highlights rougher instead of straight lines?

Matter of perspective, I don't think the clothing should look as similar to the hair but if that was the intent of the artist I won't complain.

Tough I am still next in line for a critique .

edited 1st Oct '14 9:26:44 PM by RPGLegend

the biggest issues i'm seeing are all anatomy problems, most notably the neck and shoulder area being really off.

i'd recommend taking a look at these references and practicing accordingly.

also breasts in shirts don't really look like that :x the way you drew them makes them look like they're in some sort of boob socks :v see this, and these if you need more help.

Just what I needed, thanks!

Yeah, the neck and shoulders. Do you sketch in a rough skeleton before you start? I find that really helps me with shoulders/torsos.

As a matter of fact I did. I hink it's mostly my lack of understanding of anatomy

Thanks for the critique I will study for sure.

edited 2nd Oct '14 4:23:24 AM by Rpglegend

I don't have anyone to critique again. orz

If anyone could offer any words of advice regarding this I'd be indebted to you: http://dizzyzebra.deviantart.com/art/Dahlia-492032017

Hmm. Can't see much - except that her foot seems to be sort of getting lost. It's really close to its background in colour and pattern. Also I'm not sure what's going on with the front of her chest (her decolletage?), it seems a tad formless?

I really like the colours and the details though.

edited 2nd Nov '14 5:00:08 AM by LoniJay

Ah, those were the areas I was least confident with. Thanks for the info, I'll be sure to give them extra focus next time.

I'd also add that it's odd to me how Dahlia is in sharp focus, and so is the background, but the border between them - the edges around her dress and hair - are blurry.

Could I get feedback on these panels, please? Mostly on blocking and background and such; I haven't cleaned them up at all yet.

Picture one the background doesn't stand out, but I think that's ok because the characters are the main focus on the scene. That being said if you do want to improve it I would recommend a bit more of details on the scene.

The second one looks fine but the pespective makes it feel as being too close and claustrophobic. Unless that was the effect you wanted to achieve. The ceiling looks too low making your character look enormous (unless that was the intended effect).

Tough I am just nitpicking...

My piece

I would like advice on this piece: it's a painting of supergirl. Mainly the skin... I don't know how to make it look less dead and boring. I am getting frustrated with skin to be honest

I have the perfect skin tutorial for you. The trick is, in short, colours.

http://navate.deviantart.com/art/SKIN-a-tutorial-Part-1-144294636 http://navate.deviantart.com/art/SKIN-a-tutorial-Part-2-145159387

Sometimes just setting up a 'colour' layer at a low opacity and splodging on a whole rainbow will liven up your skin.

Other tips I'd give about your piece: - It's only tiny, but be careful you don't place your eyes a notch too high. Half way down the face is a good rule to keep in mind.

- Avoid using too soft a brush; remember to represent those hard edges you find in shadows and highlights too. References are really helpful for guiding you as to how sharply you should shade for different materials and lighting.

Oh, I should post something.

http://dizzyzebra.deviantart.com/art/Sunset-493556118 Always happy to get any kind of advice.

edited 11th Nov '14 8:49:29 AM by d!zzzyzebra

Requesting anatomy and perspective lookover. link
I know the legs are whatever. Wanna know if the pose is alright along with the upper body.
The eyes look a little too wide apart? In general, except for the face, the whole thing is very blurry so it's hard to tell what's going on. The arms blend into the background and I think the yellow of the dress is a very similar saturation so it blends in too. The hands look a bit squashed. The legs, or whatever is there of them, seem too close together, like the hips are very tiny.

edited 20th Nov '14 12:11:18 PM by piearty

The eyes is too closely set together. The right arm looks quite odd, as the fingers appear detached from the hands, and the position of the fingers around the head looks unnatural — they are usually more parted when positioned in such a pose.

Don't have much to add, other than adding a bit of emphasis on the 3d form of the torso might be good; it looks slightly flat.

Requesting critique here: http://dizzyzebra.deviantart.com/art/Miki-V4-496738439 I feel I could have planned this one better.

edited 26th Nov '14 10:59:16 AM by d!zzzyzebra

Her facial profile, especially the mouth, is positioned too low, making the head appear flat. Torso is too short and the arms and shoulders is too narrow (unless that's an intentional art style, since I noticed that most of your drawings have similar Noodle People-like proportion).

I'm okay with noodle people, but I don't want noodle people whose noodliness interferes with the Suspension of Disbelief. Thanks!

Well, I do realize that a lot of Cartoon/Manga style tend to have disproportionately large heads and/or small bodies, including some of the official Vocaloid artworks, which a lot of your artworks seem to be based on. They're not the kind of style I particularly like seeing, so I might be a little nitpicky when it comes to such works.

Glad you find it helpful though. I feel kind of bad making all these sort of criticism while I've got nothing to show because I procrastinate on my drawings too much.

Also her neck is nonexistent. Her outfit is a little strange in that it's difficult to parse the torso and—oh I realized that V was a skirt. I thought it was her groin? It's not a blurry picture though which is good.

That was very useful, forgot to thank you d!zzzyzebra,

The neck is there, actually, but it is obfuscated by the jacket's collar, and looks rather squashed due to the shortness of the torso.

Ohhhh and I thought the jacket collar shadows were actually her shoulders...yeah, artist's distinguishment of silhouettes, outlines, and materials needs to be better or I just really suck.

Ok here's a question. Why do all my paintings stink?

Well, I can give you a few tips.

Anatomically, either move the eyes down slightly or elongate the forehead. Remember, eyes should usually be half way down the face. People often see eyes as being near the top of the head because we don't pay much attention to the forehead and hairline in real life, but it's not the case. Face proportion guides are worth checking out.

(In some extra-warped styles, you may see the eyes even lower than half way, but finding a look that suits eyes placed higher than usual is oddly much more difficult.)

Try adding more contrast; don't forget those occlusion shadows. On almost every subject there is at least one shadow which is completely black.

Try using less soft brushes, at least in the early stages of a painting. It makes your strokes appear more confident and allows you to define everything more strongly. If you're in Photoshop, stay away from the airbrush. Lower the opacity and flow of harder brushes instead, it allows you to be more accurate.

Hope that helps! Since I got so many replies I thought I might as well contribute too. Unfortunately I don't have a piece myself that I feel is worth sharing. orz

edited 1st Dec '14 8:42:53 AM by d!zzzyzebra