Critique a Non-artists artwork? (closed)

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Zay
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Critique a Non-artists artwork? (closed)

#1 Post by Zay »

EDIT: Thanks all for your help! I have removed the stuff I wanted critiqued because it is embarrassing and I don't want it enshrined on the internet forever.
Thanks again,
-Z

Ok. First things first, I am not an artist and I drew these, not even with a mouse, but with my laptops trackpad. It... is not the most sensitive of tools.
In a few hours when the mail comes I will have a cheap knock-off graphics tablet, which I hope will make my drawing a bit better.
Mainly, I am looking for a critique of the different shading styles. Nothing I am trying is really satisfying me.
... also, the 'clothes' I just sort of threw on top because, though there is no detail on her body, I didn't want to offend anyone on this forum and the Hentai forum doesn't seem to get as much traffic.

Without further excuses, I present three versions. Feel free to offer as strong a critique as you wish, my feelings will not be hurt.

Thanks,
-Zay
Last edited by Zay on Fri Feb 10, 2012 1:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Critique a Non-artists artwork?

#2 Post by LateWhiteRabbit »

Wow, trackpad, huh? Brutal.

I won't critique linework or even proportions at the moment, considering it was done with a trackpad, but i will discuss your shading.

The biggest problem I see with your shading is that it doesn't appear you are familiar with the shapes and surface of the body - i.e. the appropriate places to put shading. Remember that shading and highlights reveal the form of muscles and contours on the body. Right now your shading is nebulous and blobby, treating whole areas of the body as one shape, like you have done in the thighs.

A proper understanding of anatomy is essential for good shading. Even more so when shading in anime-style, as the colors must be sharp, crisp, and in exactly the right place.

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Re: Critique a Non-artists artwork?

#3 Post by Zay »

LateWhiteRabbit wrote:Wow, trackpad, huh? Brutal.
Yeah, tell me about it.
LateWhiteRabbit wrote:I won't critique linework or even proportions at the moment, considering it was done with a trackpad, but i will discuss your shading.

The biggest problem I see with your shading is that it doesn't appear you are familiar with the shapes and surface of the body - i.e. the appropriate places to put shading. Remember that shading and highlights reveal the form of muscles and contours on the body. Right now your shading is nebulous and blobby, treating whole areas of the body as one shape, like you have done in the thighs.

A proper understanding of anatomy is essential for good shading. Even more so when shading in anime-style, as the colors must be sharp, crisp, and in exactly the right place.
So, basically, I should have looked harder for a photoreference before I started? (and of course the obvious, using a better tool than the trackpad.)

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Re: Critique a Non-artists artwork?

#4 Post by LateWhiteRabbit »

Zay wrote: So, basically, I should have looked harder for a photoreference before I started?
You should always use reference, but you don't have to be a slave to it. Basically you need to add shadows and highlights where the actual muscles and forms are, not where you THINK they are. Plus, some surface structures are missing or distorted in your drawings.

You won't go wrong with a good anatomy book.

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Re: Critique a Non-artists artwork?

#5 Post by Zay »

LateWhiteRabbit wrote:
Zay wrote: So, basically, I should have looked harder for a photoreference before I started?
You should always use reference, but you don't have to be a slave to it. Basically you need to add shadows and highlights where the actual muscles and forms are, not where you THINK they are. Plus, some surface structures are missing or distorted in your drawings.

You won't go wrong with a good anatomy book.
I have been having a little trouble finding photoreferences for women... the internet says that you can either get a celebrity's face, an anonymous headless limbless torso, a model twisted and photoshopped into a bizarre pose, or porn. None of these are the realistic average-ish attractive-ish young woman I would like to be using as a reference.
... but I bet I could get my partner to check me out an anatomy book from the college library...
Hmm...

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Re: Critique a Non-artists artwork?

#6 Post by Auro-Cyanide »

Zay wrote:
LateWhiteRabbit wrote:
Zay wrote: So, basically, I should have looked harder for a photoreference before I started?
You should always use reference, but you don't have to be a slave to it. Basically you need to add shadows and highlights where the actual muscles and forms are, not where you THINK they are. Plus, some surface structures are missing or distorted in your drawings.

You won't go wrong with a good anatomy book.
I have been having a little trouble finding photoreferences for women... the internet says that you can either get a celebrity's face, an anonymous headless limbless torso, a model twisted and photoshopped into a bizarre pose, or porn. None of these are the realistic average-ish attractive-ish young woman I would like to be using as a reference.
... but I bet I could get my partner to check me out an anatomy book from the college library...
Hmm...
Maybe you are looking in the wrong places? http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/ ... /fullbody/
You will probably need to join to look at the Nekid pictures. That said, anatomy books are brillant when you can find a good one, definitely worth it.

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Re: Critique a Non-artists artwork?

#7 Post by LateWhiteRabbit »

Zay wrote: I have been having a little trouble finding photoreferences for women... the internet says that you can either get a celebrity's face, an anonymous headless limbless torso, a model twisted and photoshopped into a bizarre pose, or porn. None of these are the realistic average-ish attractive-ish young woman I would like to be using as a reference.
... but I bet I could get my partner to check me out an anatomy book from the college library...
Hmm...
http://www.3d.sk/ is a great source for anatomy reference.

Anatomy for the Artist is a great book as well.

And don't knock porn - it still provides anatomy reference, i.e. where the muscles go, etc. and the poses in soft porn aren't too ridiculous. We used it in art school for reference, and internet porn models come in all sizes. Old masters like Manet even used prostitutes for models. Porn has a long and storied history in the art world. :wink: Or as my art history professor used to say: "What's the difference between porn and art?" Answer: "You hang one on the wall." :lol:

Most good anatomy sources or books, even academic ones involve lots of nudity, so I hope you aren't too averse to it. The important thing is to KNOW the human body - what goes where, how it moves, bends, and how the layers stack up. The best advice I ever got for learning anatomy is really simple - do studies. Take an anatomy book and draw every image in it, front to back, being as careful and meticulous as you can be, examining each muscle. Then do it again. I guarantee you'll get it.

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Re: Critique a Non-artists artwork? (closed)

#8 Post by Zay »

Thanks for your help folks, I will definitely keep working on my anatomy. Thanks for the sources.

...and I really don't have any problem at all with nudity or even porn, but porn just not quite what I'm looking for to copy. I want to draw some lady, not some lady covered in sperm.

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