Critique Needed!

[LegitWaterfall]

Calling all artists!

I've been needed some critique on my sketch work thus far, and any would be greatly appreciated.
I do know that I need help with the legs on the opposite side of the animal, and detail work would be lovely too.

Here's my sketches:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11128322/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11139310/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11227622/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11243570/

Thank you kindly.

 

[Kalmor]

Moved for ya.

 

[LegitWaterfall]

Moved for ya.

Ah.
Thank ya kindly.

 

[Hewge]

You should probably link specific drawings you want to be critiqued on.

 

[LegitWaterfall]

You should probably link specific drawings you want to be critiqued on.

Done

 

[TobyDingo]

These are niiiice. I like your style. Similar to how I do my pencil drawings. Try adding more shading for a greater tonal range. I always start off with light shading then gradually get darker adding different shades/tones. I'm not really one to be critiquing, I hardly consider myself an artist. I remember my art teacher always used to make me add more and more shading until my hands turned grey. Sometimes I prefer pencil drawings without shading, looks nice and clean.

 

[Ansitru]

I could be wrong, but it looks like you're mostly referencing / eyeballing cartoon-images, like the Disney hyenas.
While that makes you an excellent Xeroxer, it doesn't teach you much in terms of anatomy.

What I personally would suggest is first trying to realistically draw, for instance, the hyena. Get a feel for how the body works, how the skeleton looks and what the parts of the body are.
Then you can exaggerate and know exactly which parts you are exaggerating in order to make everything look "believable", as well as meaning that you can shade according to the musculature. Basically: realistic studies should by no means be the only things you do, but they should at least be included as exercises.

These are niiiice. I like your style. Similar to how I do my pencil drawings. Try adding more shading for a greater tonal range. I always start off with light shading then gradually get darker adding different shades/tones. I'm not really one to be critiquing, I hardly consider myself an artist. I remember my art teacher always used to make me add more and more shading until my hands turned grey. Sometimes I prefer pencil drawings without shading, looks nice and clean.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but .. I can't be the only person who is starting to get just a teensy bit irked by the fact that people post asking for critique specifically and then people come in with nothing but praise and just a few vague commentaries. Praise and motivation are definitely good, don't get me wrong. But if someone is asking for a critique, "These are niiiice" is hardly helpful. Nice to hear, maybe. But not helpful. D:

 

[LegitWaterfall]

Toby- Thanks

Ansitru- I did reference off of a real hyena picture, but I've been drawing toony for so long it's hard for me to get out of that stage. I have been studying real anatomy, and it's been a struggle.
I'm working on it though, thanks guys!

 

[TobyDingo]

Please don't take this the wrong way, but .. I can't be the only person who is starting to get just a teensy bit irked by the fact that people post asking for critique specifically and then people come in with nothing but praise and just a few vague commentaries. Praise and motivation are definitely good, don't get me wrong. But if someone is asking for a critique, "These are niiiice" is hardly helpful. Nice to hear, maybe. But not helpful. D:

Yeh i'm not great at critique, especially when the drawings are better than my own which is....most of the time. I'm not really one to be dishing out advice so I can only offer a few vague thoughts that pop into my head when i see artwork. And yes, I agree, practice anatomical drawings. I'm currently doing this myself.

 

[Hewge]

In the dragon drawings, all of their heads/faces look flat, also like they're from an incorrect angle from the way their bodies are facing.

You should do what Anistru said and move onto drawing realistic things now while you're still totally young. All I used to draw was toons and now I have loads of trouble branching off from it. =/
Also; learning good anatomy/realism will improve your toons anyway.

 

[Arshes Nei]

Please don't take this the wrong way, but .. I can't be the only person who is starting to get just a teensy bit irked by the fact that people post asking for critique specifically and then people come in with nothing but praise and just a few vague commentaries. Praise and motivation are definitely good, don't get me wrong. But if someone is asking for a critique, "These are niiiice" is hardly helpful. Nice to hear, maybe. But not helpful. D:

I dunno what it is either but whenever someone even attempts a critique it's the "it could use some shading" or "coloring" which is one of those facepalm moments for me.

It's usually really unhelpful "lipstick on a pig" type things. If the drawing is bad, shading is not going to make it "Better" nor is "Coloring" A good drawing should stand on its own and be improved with tone or coloring depending on the approach.

 

[LegitWaterfall]

In the dragon drawings, all of their heads/faces look flat, also like they're from an incorrect angle from the way their bodies are facing.

Huh, now that I look back they do have a flat look.
Thanks!

I dunno what it is either but whenever someone even attempts a critique it's the "it could use some shading" or "coloring" which is one of those facepalm moments for me.

It's usually really unhelpful "lipstick on a pig" type things. If the drawing is bad, shading is not going to make it "Better" nor is "Coloring" A good drawing should stand on its own and be improved with tone or coloring depending on the approach.

Yeah, I'm not really going into shading until my drawings can look decent without it.

 

[Kalmor]

I've already given you my $0.02 in PMs but I'm also going to post here to keep everything together.

As others have ready said, anatomical studies are important. Use (real life) references but don't copy/eyeball line for line the reference picture to make a carbon copy of it. References are there to show you how the particular animal is built and how it moves.

So basically just learn anatomy and try not to eyeball stuff too much.

 

[LegitWaterfall]

I've already given you my $0.02 in PMs but I'm also going to post here to keep everything together.

As others have ready said, anatomical studies are important. Use (real life) references but don't copy/eyeball line for line the reference picture to make a carbon copy of it. References are there to show you how the particular animal is built and how it moves.

So basically just learn anatomy and try not to eyeball stuff too much.

Thank ya, I could honestly bang my head against a wall for thinking just copying off of stuff would make me better.
Gah.
Someone beat me with a stick.

 

[Ansitru]

Thank ya, I could honestly bang my head against a wall for thinking just copying off of stuff would make me better.
Gah.
Someone beat me with a stick.

What I personally found really handy when using references is not to copy the outlines, but rather look to see what shapes make up the figure.
It may sound silly, but what works for me personally is to go from a stick-figure for the basic lines, then adding on the shapes that make up the animal and then refining it (like adding the fur etc.).

 

[LegitWaterfall]

What I personally found really handy when using references is not to copy the outlines, but rather look to see what shapes make up the figure.
It may sound silly, but what works for me personally is to go from a stick-figure for the basic lines, then adding on the shapes that make up the animal and then refining it (like adding the fur etc.).

I like to draw a series of lines and circles to figure the basic skeleton, then I add thin lines and features, like I'm drawing the animal very finely. When I'm happy with the rough-draft, I trace all the details and such to get the finished product.
Perhaps I could try your method?

 

[Gnarl]

Alright! so this might help some or confuse you more! Take a piece of paper and krinkle it up. set it on a table and put a desk lamp over it. Note the way each part of it is covered by the light or in shadow. then move the light several times.
Each time you move the light the shadows will change and in a drawing you can use this to help create the illusion of the third dimension in a 2D form. Now also notice that some of the shadows are affected by the light that is under them and almost seem to be lit from below. This is the refraction affect. To learn to see and draw some things better when you have them too well ingrained in your mind, try putting them in a strange position. For example don't draw a chair sitting there waiting to sat on. turn it upside down and lean it in a corner of the room. then draw what you see and not what you know. The trick to shading is to understand how light works on objects of 3 dimensions. Text me and I can maybe help more if you want?

 

[LegitWaterfall]

Alright! so this might help some or confuse you more! Take a piece of paper and krinkle it up. set it on a table and put a desk lamp over it. Note the way each part of it is covered by the light or in shadow. then move the light several times.
Each time you move the light the shadows will change and in a drawing you can use this to help create the illusion of the third dimension in a 2D form. Now also notice that some of the shadows are affected by the light that is under them and almost seem to be lit from below. This is the refraction affect. To learn to see and draw some things better when you have them too well ingrained in your mind, try putting them in a strange position. For example don't draw a chair sitting there waiting to sat on. turn it upside down and lean it in a corner of the room. then draw what you see and not what you know. The trick to shading is to understand how light works on objects of 3 dimensions. Text me and I can maybe help more if you want?

Wow, I may have to give it a shot.
Thanks!

 

[amberdragonling]

Hmm... Well I have some advice! Your dragons are good, their anatomy is is pretty well done, but their poses are flat. What do I mean by flat poses? Well none of any of the draws your showed had dynamic poses. They were all from the side and they were just kinda standing there. Try changing their stance a bit, maybe see them from a 3/4ths view rather than a simple side view. Draw them in motion, perhaps have them running or flying? Having them all stand in one pose makes the characters themselves look flat and soon they all start to look the same; even though they may be very different.

Here is a good example of some dynamic poses with a human figure: http://th02.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE...__dynamic_poses_by_thethirdcartel-d5ghtvx.png
As you can see, even the standing ones have some different pizzazz to them. There are a ton of different poses you can try, and each would only increase your ability to draw! Since your characters are feral, look of images of say... a dog running, or maybe a big cat hunting. Then you can inference those poses and apply them to your own characters.

Drawing cartoony is no excuse to not draw dynamically.

Now, that being said. It is HARD. I still struggle to push myself and make all of the drawings I do dynamic. Even just simple sketches. And I wont sugar coat it, it'll be frustrating and make you want to throw your sketchpad at someone -don't do it, people don't seem to like it very much- but it will be rewarding in the long run. If I were to pick a time span of when I have started to make the most improvement in my art; it was when I started to draw things differently and from different angles.

Now as for your hyena drawing, the anatomy definitely needs some work.

http://www.interestingtopics.net/storage/picture20.jpg

Look at the hyena above, you see how it's hips are lower? And the front legs are a lot shorter than how you drew them. What I would suggest is to take the legs down a little and give your hyena some eat on it's bones. Hyenas have larger ribcages, and have a much rounder stomach. By fattening them up and moving the legs down a bit it would make it look far more realistic, but still have that cartoony appeal.

Now for the paws, you suffer from something I see a lot in canine artists; bubble pads.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1264/551742886_456f1b3536_b.jpg

Look at the paws here, you see how the pads of the feet are not that visible when they stand? While you can somewhat see them, the hyena is putting pressure on them so they have flattened out a little to allow it to walk.

The face is pretty good, I would look at more references of their faces though, since the head shape seems a bit off.



Over all, your art is pretty good! I do like how you drew the dragons, so adding some more expressive and dynamic poses will be awesome. Good luck with your future art and I hope this was helpful!