The "Serious Business" Critque Thread- Art

Ah, okay.

You're welcome!

EDIT: Oh. Pagetopper. Here's my request:

edited 5th Apr '14 3:20:23 PM by Noaqiyeum

Aside from #4, they're pretty good. #4 has some issues with the head, it seems being out of proportion.

http://ziltoid1991.deviantart.com/art/Lilly-Bathory-Nagy-basic-proportion-446396351

My most recent and my most decent art. I used some cheating there, by putting a basic female model from DAZ Studio, drawing over it, but still making it original. Also on the next picture I fixed her hair a bit, but I still don't know how to do a proper one, all I know it just looks odd, but I fixed most of the shadows. I made her eyes smaller than the 'moé' ones because I don't really like that, also her shoulders are narrow for a reason.

Um, thank you, but I meant impressions of who they are as characters, sorry. <_<

I'll comment on yours in a bit when I have a chance, unless someone beats me to it.

Ah man, it's been a while, but I want to bump this thread.

Okay, a late critique for ZI Ltoid :D 1. Move the eyes downwards slightly, a possibly a tiny bit further apart. A good tip for eyes: Always have them half way down the head.

2. Use lots of real-life references for the hair, take note of how it falls, and where the shadows in it lie. Currently it looks a little cardboard-like; if it helps, imagine hair as a flowing liquid – it can create a more naturalistic effect. Remember it isn't stiff.

3. Strongly anime facial features on a more realistically proportioned body can be jarring. Either sliding the eyes further towards realism on the stylisation scale, or exaggerating the body would solve it.

And for me, any critique would be helpful: http://dizzyzebra.deviantart.com/art/Tohoku-Zunko-457820695 (One thing I did recently myself notice – the pupils are facing in different directions. Goddamnit.)

I like how you change up the basic anime style a bit by using the effects that you did and changing up the structure. However, the face looks a bit flat and bland. The nose should stick out a bit more, and more shadows need to be added to the other half.

Critique away! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1492817767596526&set=pb.100006049512175.-2207520000.1405677246.&type=3&theater

579: The face looks flat and oddly proportioned. It seemed that it's supposed to be 3/4 view, but the left and right side of the face have almost the same width, when the left part should be narrower. Also, since the head is slightly tilted downwards, the left eye should be angled accordingly. They are also set too closely together, which makes it look borderline Uncanny Valley.

580: Pretty good, but the head is a too large, and the girl's hair looks too solid. It could use a few more details for the strands. And the size ratio between the girl and the tree looks off, since they seem to have an almost similar height. Unless it is supposed to be a very small tree, it would have to be positioned farther away from the person.

Need for some criticism here, as I'm trying to remake the pic: [1]◊

edited 10th Aug '14 6:48:51 AM by escore

The details in the stained glass look great, as well as the overall neat, bold outlines. To continue this, you might want to work on getting smoother curves to match the straight lines. I suggest trying out using a compass for circles.

Anatomy-wise, it's pretty solid; however one thing to need to work on is the heads. They are not wide enough in profile. A good rule of thumb for heads is that they extend backwards as far as they are tall. The distance from the chin to the top of the hair should be roughly the same as the distance from the front to the back of the head; here they are too narrow. Also, the chins may need to extend slightly further forward.

The little details in the decorations are definitely a strong point of the piece.

I've always felt like something was up with this one: http://dizzyzebra.deviantart.com/art/Ghostly-Aradia-451726188

I think that this is a good piece. I like the colors with the dark red and the bright green stems of the roses. The background is really cool and trippy. One thing that I think could be emphasized a bit is the detail on her hands, but that's just my taste.

I drew this, my version of the logo of Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume. I drew the outline in pencil but "finished" it with a marker. I wish I had done the hair better.

Nicely done. Although if you're going to use block colours, wouldn't it be better to use a digital media? Because the marker streaks look very obvious in that picture, and it's quite distracting.

583: Hey. I'm no expert critic, but I'll try. I think it looks pretty good - sure, it's a bit obvious that it's traditional art, due to the slight untidiness of the image around the contours, but I don't think that's a bad thing. Also, the internal marker streaks gives it a nice sense of flow. I'm not sure what to suggest, though I suppose cleaning it up and making it look sharper will help.

As for me, uh, I drew this. It's a picture of Sonic running on the colorful streets of Hong Kong from a police car. I'm somewhat proud of it, but at the same time I feel like there's something missing from it, yet I can't figure out what it is. Any expert suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks for the comments. I don't use digital art because I am more versed in traditional art. I worried if the streaks were too visible, and tried to make it look even and smooth without screwing up the lines. Perhaps I should have tried to replicate the more subtle color shifts in the original logo; it had lighter highlights.

Exploder: Well, I don't know if I'd call myself an expert, but here are my observations regardless:

• Sonic's current foot position is pretty close to that of an actual runner, but it's a little off - either the rear foot should be visibly pushing off the ground, or the front foot should be reaching further forward in preparation for the next step. Either would do more to suggest continuous, rapid forward motion.
• The far background seems oddly hollow - like the city just abruptly stops.

Could someone comment on this landscape, please?

Is this thread defunct?

In any case, I've decided to try and dedicate a bit more time towards my digital art. I've still got a long way to go◊, so I'm here to ask for critique.

this thread is about as "defunct" as any other part of this section. it just doesn't get a lot of activity.

my main criticism is that your lines need a little bit of work (the ear/tail thing coming from the top of its head looks a bit wobbly). are you using a mouse?

...if you're going to bump the thread, could you comment on the previous critique request, which isn't even a month old? <_<

I've got a cheap bamboo tablet that I need to upgrade from, but beside that my linework is pretty weak in general, yeah.

Sad to say I'm not at all qualified to critique other people's art.

edited 12th Sep '14 5:05:12 AM by Hashil

nah, you don't really need to. your arm/wrist control matters a lot more than your tools. trust me. just practice.

at least put some effort and try, otherwise you come off as selfish.

Noa: it looks good, bit cartoony, if that's what you're going for. honestly it reminds me of Disney's Alice in Wonderland. The wooden bridge looks bad on the persepective in. Also I don't really have my eye drawn anywhere? I am not good with landscapes, but that's what I noticed.

mine.

@Noa: I don't want to have to repeat a criticism, but, yeah, the image lacks a focus point and the perspective is a bit odd. The bridge is the most obvious, but the terrain on the right siede looks distorted as well.

The proportion needs some work. The head of the second character is too large, and the arm is too short, the shoulders are also too narrow. The lineart definitely needs more practice, because it's rather messy as-is. Same goes with the colouring.

, Thank you both. :) (The intended focal point is the bay beyond the bluffs, I guess, following the streams? I'll have to work on that. This is the first landscape I've attempted in years.)

(AHR: I was aiming more for Myst/Riven◊ than Wonderland, but my overall style is a bit cartoony so I suppose that's to be expected. :P )

You did a pretty good job of making them appear to have different body shapes, I think, but I did notice what eScore mentioned about the proportions (especially that the arms are a little short, even for a cartoon). The other thing I noticed, though, is that the two outside characters seem to have almost the same face, outside the freckles; Marlee's expression in particular seems a bit... 'stock', I guess, and pasted-on.

Thanks, I have only been working with a tablet for a month now, so I'm much more clumsy than I used to be. I'mma keep practicing and stuff.

Also, I was under the impression that my arms are usually too long, as they are supposed to not surpass the hip joint. Is that wrong?

edited 17th Sep '14 9:49:57 AM by MrAHR

Normal arm length should go slightly beneath the crotch. For reference: [1]◊

I can't see anyone who needs a critique above me, but let me know if I just missed you.

Looking for any tips regarding this. If it helps, I'm attempting to achieve realistic clothing shading (sorry for all the animu).

Hmm. The hair looks very shiny and solid, like ribbon almost. Is that intentional?

I've noticed the ribbon-like qualities in the hair of similar styles, so I'm glad I'm not alone in thinking it. :D While I tried to avoid the hair appearing too metallic or plastic in texture (which is relatively common for anime-esque work), the ribbons are partially intentional.

However, I'd love to hear opinions on whether it works or not, it's difficult for me to judge it myself. I know that if it's too ribbon-like it could appear unrealistic to the degree that it's distracting. I think what I'd like to achieve most is a realistic structure, be it through ribbon-like strands or solid blocks of hair.

edited 1st Oct '14 8:29:46 AM by d!zzzyzebra